Posted on 03/08/2005 10:25:54 AM PST by Viva Christo Rey
"[Satan] will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the [Catholic] Church. . . . It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content."
--Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 1948
The Antichrist will not be so called; otherwise he would have no followers. He will not wear red tights, nor vomit sulphur, nor carry a trident nor wave an arrowed tail as Mephistopheles in Faust. This masquerade has helped the Devil convince men that he does not exist. When no man recognizes, the more power he exercises. God has defined Himsel as "I am Who am," and the Devil as "I am who am not."
Nowhere in Sacred Scripture do we find warrant for the popular myth of the Devil as a buffoon who is dressed like the first "red." Rather is he described as an angel fallen from heaven, as "the Prince of this world," whose business it is to tell us that there is no other world. His logic is simple: if there is no heaven there is no hell; if there is no hell, then there is no sin; if there is no sin, then there is no judge, and if there is no judgment then evil is good and good is evil. But above all these descriptions, Our Lord tells us that he will be so much like Himself that he would deceive even the elect--and certainly no devil ever seen in picture books could deceive even the elect. How will he come in this new age to win followers to his religion?
. . . The third temptation in which Satan asked Christ to adore him and all the kingdoms of the world would be His, will become the temptation to have a new religion without a Cross, a liturgy without a world to come, a religion to destroy a religion, or a politics which is a religion--one that renders unto Caesar even the things that are God's.
In the midst of all his seeming love for humanity and his glib talk of freedom and equality, he will have one great secret which he will tell to no one: he will not believe in God. Because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the Church, because he, the Devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. . . .
. . . But the twentieth century will join the counterchurch because it claims to be infallible when its visible head speaks ex cathedra from Moscow on the subject of economics and politics, and as chief shepherd of world communism.
(from Fulton J. Sheen, Communism and the Conscience of the West, Bobbs-Merril Company, Indianapolis,1948, pp. 24-25)
His articles and books from the 1930's were even more prophetic and pointed.
Prophetic! This sounds like the UN sympathetic/one world religion crowd.
BTW, the local N.O. is having an interdenominational Good Friday service this year. Catholic ritual observance will be a minor afterthought in the evening.
I will betcha that the postulator of Sheen's canonization cause - Fr. Andrew Apostoli of the "Groeschelites" - will not be caught dean on EWTN quoting such works of Sheen.
Only his witticisms, and "approved" preaching.
" It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but
in reverse and emptied of its divine content."
With the Tabernacle in the back or at least symbolically off center and a presider's chair in it's place?
The Lucifer Experiment
At one point in your development, humanity became so captivated with the negative and the illusion of fear, that it was necessary for us to create the illusion of polarity consciousness in Heaven. Not an easy task for darkness is a creation of duality and does not exist in Heaven. Yet, in order for us in the angelic realm to reflect your magnificence, it was even necessary for us to create the illusion of darkness on the other side of the veil. Thus began the Lucifer Experiment.
Lucifer was a great angel; an angel of love and his energy was such that he could switch to something that was the illusion of negative energy. He was the one angel strong enough to hold the illusion of darkness in Heaven. Imagine what it would be like to have all the beings of Earth looking at you in disgust and using your image to motivate them. In fact he was the angel who helped to define light through his willingness to play that role. As that negative energy of fear came in to him, he was able to express it with the most beautiful love as what you call darkness. And he did so out of complete sacrifice, knowing perfectly well that this energy would be transmitted to all the beings on Earth and that he would not be revered, but would be hated and feared. What a gift. What a beauty of darkness. Thus he was and still is referred to as the prince of darkness. That gift of darkness allowed that gap to be filled and it was necessary to continue the illusion of the Lucifer Experiment for eons of time on your game board. Lucifer's gift of darkness allowed you to clearly see the light. Even though your advancement was moving a little bit every day, it was moving ever so slowly. But now that has changed for you have begun taking these quantum steps into evolution. You have begun standing on your own feet, stepping into the second wave of empowerment. As you do that, everything changes and the work of Lucifer is complete. The energy of everything now measured as an expression of light. Once you understand that, you defined it all in the field of heaven for as we have told you many times before, Lucifer has returned Home. He was greeted with thunderous applauds and open arms as the hero he is. The Lucifer Experiment was a success and in the alternate universe he is seen clearly as the angel of light.
The Lightworkers are a non-profit organization and an NGO affiliated with the United Nations.
Let me guess. The next step is to worship Lucifer?
So, it will be the "bizarro" church?
It's so late here in the east, I didn't figure anyone would pay attention, but the organization is only one of many. The movement is worldwide and has infiltrated the culture of societies everywhere. It is manifested greatly in the United Nations and its NGOs. I never realized how wide-spread this movement against Christianity was until I began studying it a year ago.
Those who follow the teachings of these organizations, call it the "spiritual" movement. Many are offshoots of the theosophy movement of H.P. Blavatsky. The U.N. Meditation Room is the room where the new ark sits. This "ark" was paraded down the streets of a town in Vermont not too far from where I live by school children, to be transported down the Hudson River to the United Nations. And yes, it is the believers in this "one world religion" who are the enemies of Christ. It is they who have wielded influence in the Vatican.
How do you know he forgot his own words?
I was confirmed by Bishop Sheen. Bishop Sheen was enthusiastic about reform within the Church. He lost favor with many traditionalists.
That happens to lots of people. Even the Pope has "lost favor with traditionalists."
Traditionalists spend a lot of time looking for Catholics to kick out of their Church.
False. Traditionalists present examples of how current popularly promoted opinions within the Church depart from Traditional Catholic teaching, with evidence. Unlike the assertions made in your post.
Would that that were all that traditionalists do. Typically, they ramp up the conversation to include ridicule of the Pope, rejection of the validity of the Novus Ordo, and condemnation of the vast majority of Catholics who attend the Novus Ordo.
Typically they do nothing of the sort. They do criticize actions and statements of the pope that are apparently not consistent with Traditional Catholic teaching, and the more knowledgeable Catholics that do not agree actually try to engage the argument. Others just attack the Traditional Catholics claiming they have no right to criticize anything that the pope says or does. The only exception to this rule according to such persons is when the pope's personal opinions differ with that of US foreign policy, for example, then they can say "the pope is wrong."
... rejection of the validity of the Novus Ordo,
Typically not so, once again. They criticize the radical changes and radical departure from Tradition(and the ever more evolving changes)in the liturgy, the wisdom of such decisions, and the effects on the Church and on the beliefs of the faithful since the change.
and condemnation of the vast majority of Catholics who attend the Novus Ordo.
Um no. What you do see is rebuke of those who attempt to promote personal modernist agendas at odds with Traditional Catholic teaching, and those who present misinformation on what is Traditional Catholic teaching. These rebukes are "typically" done with rational argument, until the Traditional Catholic presenting the argument is "dismissed" with personal insult or slurs by those who disagree with what they say.
"Apparently". I like that.
Why insert this word? There's no doubt in the Traditionalist mind that the Pope has departed from Catholic teaching is there? It's all black and white isn't it?
From my point of view, however, I'm glad that you did include it, because it strikes right to the heart of the problem. "Apparently" -from the same root as the word "appear"- means that "it appears to us", which is exactly what all your posturings amount to. You've simply made your own personal call on how the Pope is running the Church and elevated it to the level of infallibility.
Furthermore, let's not minimize what's happening here with euphemisms which attempt to paint a picture of studied and sporadic dissent from certain papal actions.
I see no admiration nor praise from your quarter for anything which the Pope does or says. The contestation is universal and continual. In addition, it's not just this Pope. Traditionalists have rejected wholesale, pope after pope, after pope. In toto. Your words in no way convey the scale of Traditionalist rejection of JPII or any of his predecessors.
It's a little late for playing the "we're all reasonable people" card.
Others just attack the Traditional Catholics claiming they have no right to criticize anything that the pope says or does.
It's not a question of having a "right" to criticise the Pope. It's a question of whether it's wise to do so. There are two virtues which guard against it and they are generally lacking from Traditionalist apologetics.
a)humility
b)prudence
Most reasonable people have some sort of awareness of their rightful place within the Mystical Body. For me, this means being aware that the Pope has a certain charism proper to his position with which I-as a humble pew dweller and the misunderstood "spirit of Vatican II notwithstanding"-am not endowed. This leads naturally to a certain respect for the holder of the Petrine office and a certain reserve when it comes to second guessing the works and teachings of its holder. The former has its roots in humility, the second in prudence.
Much as I might like to think that my opinion on how to approach relations with the Orthodox or Protestant Churches carries as much value as that of JPII, it doesn't. I have received no indication from the Holy Spirit, other than access to a computer and keyboard, that my opinions about Church governance count for diddly squat.
As for the whining "everyone attacks us Traditionalists" line, spare me.
You and yours may elevate disrespect for the papacy into a lifestyle and nobody is allowed to call you on it? You may criticize the Pope but nobody may criticize you?
That's a little unrealistic but totally in keeping with the pride which permeates your entire movement.
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