Posted on 07/12/2015 5:38:07 AM PDT by steve8714
**There earn your bread by prophesying,**
What did the apostles do in the Gospel. They couldn’t take any money......they have to earn their bread by prophesying.
**Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet,
nor have I belonged to a company of prophets;
I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.
The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me,
Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”**
God picks the lowly fishermen, tax collectors, shepherds, etc. to do his work.
Nothing wrong with the reading, but it is being interpreted incorrectly.
Having read some of the social encyclicals like Rerum Novarum, I think the Pope is trying to say something that we are blocked from hearing clearly because of our secular ideas, including political.
The popes encourage a way which is based on Christ, on love for God and for our neighbors.
It is sometimes difficult for Americans to grasp that the Pope considers events and situations around the world, not just in the US. With 80 million Catholics, only a small percentage of who practice their faith, of the world’s 1 Billion Catholics, he has to think of more than just us!
So consider the environmental thing. He said we have to consider the poor when determining policy.
So let’s look at nations which decided to “go green” and now preen themselves on how they are not polluting. Well, a lot of the items necessary for going green like the windmills require rare earth metals, and the rapid increase in mining for these REM has devastated parts of China. I mean, those places look like warzones.
Had the green-wannabees taken the poor into account, had the government of China taken the poor into account, had the companies involved taken their employees into account, perhaps the process might have been slowed and developed in a way that did not destroy the surrounding land. But noooooo, the greenies had to get what they wanted when they wanted it, and the government and the company had to get their money...
So I think the Pope is still, in the Catholic way, bringing people to repentance and metanoia.
If a priest takes holy orders, he is a priest and can consecrate, even if he is not such a faithful priest. Jesus is in charge of the consecration. The priest is just a servant of God.
‘The intention of the priest necessary to the validity of a sacrament’, by Fr. Robert J. Levis, the founding director (emeritus) of the Graduate Catechetical Institute, a pontifical institute at Gannon University.
“...if a sinful priest loses his faith and doesn’t want to do what the Church intends, then nothing happens, no grace is given.”
(From the seventh session of the Council of Trent.)
“IF ONE SHALL SAY, THAT IN MINISTERS, WHILST THEY COMPLETE AND CONFER THE SACRAMENTS, THERE IS NOT REQUIRED THE INTENTION, AT LEAST OF DOING WHAT THE CHURCH DOES, LET HIM BE ACCURSED.”
According to Cardinal Bellarmine (1542–1621), “It is not possible for any one to be sure with the certainty of faith that he has received a true sacrament, as a sacrament cannot be celebrated without the intention of the minister, and no one can see the intention of another.”
If you seek a holy priest, a reverent liturgy and a community where your gifts can make a difference; if you live near St. Louis, please ... please ... visit
Saint Raymond's Maronite Cathedral.
They follow a fixed liturgical calendar and you will not hear politics as part of a homily. Please freepmail me for more information and reassurance.
I wish I could agree with you. But when the Pope accepts a gift of a ‘CRUCIFIX’ made of a hammer and sickle this bodes poorly for economic development and raising the poor from poverty.
It helps to be prepared for Mass when you come by reading in advance the three Scriptural readings of the Mass for that day. It also helps to be listening when they are being read at Mass. That way, you won’t have to wonder why the priest “brought up” the prophet Amos for “some reason”.
As others have already pointed out to you here, the first of the three readings for Mass today was from the prophet Amos. (the Second was from Ephesians and the Gospel was from Mark).
Things go better if one comes to Mass prepared.
The point the priest was trying to make is that St. Paul's thought is involved in that passage and you have to pay attention to follow what he is saying.
Curiously enough, before Mass I was watching a program on C-SPAN3 about the Declaration of Independence and one of the issues being debated is whether there is a period or a comma after the phrase "the Pursuit of Happiness."
What was he supposed to do, freak out at an international event?
Instead, he left them at the foot of a statue of Mary, referring to them kindly, as one would to the gift of a child who didn’t know any better.
I am prepared, I just marvel at the hubris of the Progressives in the Catholic Church.
Francis is more like the fictional Dathan than Amos.
When the Pope couched his enviro=religion in an encyclical, he intended to end debate.
He said we need global governance. No thanks.
What was he supposed to do, freak out at an international event?
Instead, he left them at the foot of a statue of Mary, referring to them kindly, as one would to the gift of a child who didn’t know any better.
Yes, he should have explicitly said that the hammer and sickle has killed hundreds of millions and Jesus should not be blasphemed like that.
These are dangerous people and heretics, not children, and they need to be fought as John Paul fought them.
In 1983 the Pope wagged his finger at Sandinista government minister and Nicaraguan priest, Ernesto Cardenal on a trip to Managua, warning the latter to “straighten out the situation in your church.”
https://nacla.org/news/popes-holy-war-against-liberation-theology
This is a very interesting post :-) Thank you very much. I am always amazed-—and edified-—by people who know the Scriptures in Greek (and/or Latin).
It reminds me of the young priest we had in our parish some years ago who could read the Sacred Scriptures in Latin and Greek. Yet when he gave his great homilies, his style was very “down-to-earth” and to-the-point. We missed him when he was sent to another parish.
It occurred to me that he left it at the feet of the Blessed Mother for a very good reason and that is a salient point that may have been easily missed.
I appreciate this post.
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