Love The Lord Your God

 

Unlike the current Marxist, our last Pope was clear in his exposition of the Faith. Here he is, on loving God, the first and great commandment:

In the gradual unfolding of this encounter, it is clearly revealed that love is not merely a sentiment. Sentiments come and go. A sentiment can be a marvelous first spark, but it is not the fullness of love. Earlier we spoke of the process of purification and maturation by which eros comes fully into its own, becomes love in the full meaning of the word. It is characteristic of mature love that it calls into play all man’s potentialities; it engages the whole man, so to speak. Contact with the visible manifestations of God’s love can awaken within us a feeling of joy born of the experience of being loved. But this encounter also engages our will and our intellect. Acknowledgment of the living God is one path towards love, and the “yes” of our will to his will unites our intellect, will and sentiments in the all- embracing act of love. But this process is always open-ended; love is never “finished” and complete; throughout life, it changes and matures, and thus remains faithful to itself. Idem velle atque idem nolle — to want the same thing, and to reject the same thing—was recognized by antiquity as the authentic content of love: the one becomes similar to the other, and this leads to a community of will and thought. The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in a communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God’s will increasingly coincide: God’s will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realization that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself. Then self- abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy (cf. Ps 73 [72]:23-28).

Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend. Going beyond exterior appearances, I perceive in others an interior desire for a sign of love, of concern. This I can offer them not only through the organizations intended for such purposes, accepting it perhaps as a political necessity. Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave. 

I find this beautiful, you may not, no rule. Except there is, the love of God, without which we are nothing.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Pope Implicated in Alleged Sex Scandal Cover Up

There's something about the rainbow riding antics of the Worldwide Anglican Non Communion that makes it a fair target. 

Is ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada) lost in the icy void of deep space, is the CofE controlled by Mantis People and the Episcopal Church setting up Jesus Movement worship spaces on the Red Planet, all to the beat of heart warming liturgical dance? 

Good question but when it comes to the broader Church things get more serious. As in Pope Francis and other senior members of the Hierarchy allegedly covering up Cardinal McCarrick's gay sex abuse.

Here's Damian Thompson:

Pope Francis stands accused this morning (26 August) of covering up the crimes of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, one of the most senior and sinister sex abusers in the history of the Catholic Church.

The allegation comes from the Vatican’s former apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 77, who has called on the Pope to resign.

In a devastating 11-page written testament, Viganò says Francis lifted severe sanctions imposed on McCarrick for sexual wrongdoing by Pope Benedict XVI, the existence of which has not been made public until now.

Viganò writes that he told Francis in person in 2013 that McCarrick ‘had corrupted generations of seminarians and priests and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance’.

But, says the former nuncio, the new Pope decided instead to cover up for the retired Archbishop of Washington – and made him one of his most trusted advisers.

It's scathing stuff and Thompson gets right down to it.

But the document’s (Vigano's) detailed allegations cannot to be dismissed on grounds of bias. Either they are true or they are false. If they are true, then Pope Francis has actively promoted the career of a sex abuser, knowing of the allegations against him – and sabotaged Pope Benedict’s attempt to protect the Church from any further crimes by Theodore McCarrick.

You can read the whole thing here and here.

Pray for the Church,

LSP 

Pentecost

On the first Feast of Pentecost the Holy Spirit, who is the personification of the love between the Father and the Son, came down upon the Apostles, filling them with the fire of love. This same fire is given to the successors of the Apostles, the Bishops, whose miters signify the the pentecostal flame. 

Well, there's bishops.

everyone's budde

"p"?

boy bishop

And there's bishops.

Here's the invocation of the Holy Spirit. The Church needs that right about now and doubtless always.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Every blessing for Pentecost,


LSP 

Christian Realignment

Not B16, just some guy

I haven't posted much on Pope Benedict XVI's important Apostolic Constitution viz. Anglican converts to the Roman Church. So, to make up for the deficiency here's an article by William Lind, from the American Conservative. He writes about the realignment of Christianity across jurisdictional lines, amongst other things - I think it's excellent:

"Their (Frankfort Marxists/Gramscians) driving force is political ideology, not theology. They view the church as just one more venue for radical politics.

Their goal is Nietzsche’s “transvaluation of all values,” where the old sins become virtues and the old virtues, sins. In churches where they take power, the Holy Trinity is replaced by a trio of bogeymen: racism, sexism, and homophobia. Every denomination so afflicted is bitterly split between remaining Christians and the politically correct. (No, you can’t be both, as Marxists would agree.)

What is now happening, and what Rome may have discerned, is that the people on each side of this division find they have more in common with those in other denominations who share their basic faith, Christianity or cultural Marxism, than with the people on the other side of that divide within their own churches. A potential is emerging for a vast realignment, one transcending the divisions that came out of the Reformation. That realignment, in which the remaining Christians in every church would gather in a single, new (small “c”) catholic church, needs a leader. Who better than Rome? Indeed, who other than Rome could possibly pull it off?

Seen in that light, the Pope’s offer to the Anglicans takes on broader meaning..."

Read the whole thing here - well worth the effort.On another theme, you might like SBW's plea for commonsense thrift and less waste, Freeganomics.

Cheers,

LSP

Evil Space Aliens

TEC Bishop

I just read the most remarkable thing, about space aliens. Here's an excerpt:

"The Alien spiritual mission is to spread the gospel of the New Age Movement and to deny Christianity. They also highly encourage their contactees to participate in occult practices such as channeling or mediumship, automatic writing, clairvoyance, mental telepathy, out-of-body experiences, and other New Age related activities. Others who have been abducted have become obsessed with dabbling into the UFO phenomena and occult activities, which, for many, leads to bondage, despair, destruction and suicide. Surveys that have been taken discover that the majority of those who have been abducted have shown an interest in paranormal or mystical activities, involvement in the Eastern religions, and New Age movement. Other have also claimed they have had a past involvement with astral projection, astrology, channeling, Ouija boards, witchcraft, and so on. These things are clearly forbidden by God in His word (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)."

A Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Funes, had this to say:

"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures over the earth, so there could be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contradiction with our faith, because we cannot establish limits to God's creative freedom," he told the newspaper. "To say it with St. Francis, if we can consider some earthly creatures as 'brothers' or 'sisters,' why could we not speak of a 'brother alien'? He would also belong to the creation."

Terrifying Space Creature watched by Holy Father

Interesting - can both be right? In the light of The Episcopal Church's 'Bench of Bishops' and their Pelosian allies in government, I'd have to say that Fr. Funes is guilty of wishful thinking.

God bless,

LSP