Posted on 11/08/2014 6:50:27 PM PST by ebb tide
Bishop Athanasius Schneider is well-known for his excellent books Dominus Est: It is the Lord, and Corpus Christi: Holy Communion and the Renewal of the Church in which he argues for greater reverence for the Blessed Sacrament and particularly for a return to the practice of receiving Holy Communion in the traditional manner, kneeling and receiving on the tongue. I heard him speak and had the privilege of meeting him in 2009 in Estonia and again earlier this year at a meeting of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. Bishop Schneider is a holy man and has a great love for the Church, the priesthood and the Blessed Sacrament, so it was interesting to read his reaction to the recent Synod in an interview that he gave to Polonia Christiana (H/T Rorate Caeli)
Bishop Schneider is a scholar of the Fathers and one can sense his lively shock at the similarity of our present situation with those that have gone before, notably the Arian crisis, in which the defenders of orthodox doctrine were labelled intransigent and traditionalist. He has an apposite quotation from Saint Basil the Great: “Only one sin is nowadays severely punished: the attentive observance of the traditions of our Fathers. For that reason the good ones are thrown out of their places and brought to the desert” (Ep. 243). The whole interview is worth reading because he does not stop with deploring the situation but offers sound advice on how we should respond.
Meanwhile, Gloria TV has a report on the presentation by Cardinal Burke in Vienna, of the German edition of the book “Remaining in the Truth of Christ”, a gathering organised by Una Voce Austria. Cardinal Burke said that the Relatio post disceptationem issued half way through the Synod was “one of the saddest documents that I could imagine ever coming from the Church.” He continued, “Many of us were horrified with this idea that was presented in the report, that there could somehow be good elements in mortally sinful acts. This is impossible.”
It is extraordinary that highly-respected, transparently holy and pastoral Bishops and Cardinals are speaking in this way. Damian Thompson in the Spectator has a readable summary of the fault lines that are developing and warns, Watch out Pope Francis: the Catholic civil war has begun.
As a priest, it is a great consolation to see the leadership offered by Cardinals Burke and Pell, and by Bishop Schneider. We do not need to be disloyal to the Church, the Pope, or the College of Bishops to raise our voices in defence of dogmatic and moral truth concerning the human person, marriage and the family. Since the election of Pope Francis, I have included the collects Pro Ecclesia and Pro Papa in my daily morning prayers and will continue to do so.
“Only one sin is nowadays severely punished: the attentive observance of the traditions of our Fathers. For that reason the good ones are thrown out of their places and brought to the desert” (Ep. 243).
Ping
Setting the world on fire: Inspiring quotes from St. Catherine of Siena
St. Catherine, “We’ve had enough of exhortations to be silent! Cry out with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence.”
St. CATHERINE OF SIENA (1347-1380)
Since 18 June 1866, she is one of the two patron saints of Italy, together with St. Francis of Assisi.[1] On 3 October 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI,[2] and, on 1 October 1999, Pope John Paul II named her as a one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden and Edith Stein.[3][4]
For centuries, people have drawn inspiration from the words of St. Catherine of Siena, the 14th century Dominican tertiary (third order) and Doctor of the Church who worked tirelessly for its reform and to move the papacy back to the Vatican from Avignon.
From hundreds of letters and prayers, to her spiritual testament “The Dialogue” (composed of four treatises), her writings are classics and have been translated from Italian into many languages.
Perhaps her most famous quote is: ”Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
Draw your own inspiration from the following selection of quotes from her writings:
From “The Dialogue:”
“The soul is in God and God in the soul, just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish.” Dialogue 2
“The human heart is always drawn by love.” Dialogue 26
“Love transforms one into what one loves.” Dialogue 60
“For you, high eternal Father, loved me without being loved by me.” Dialogue 108
“You are rewarded not according to your work or your time, but according to the measure of your love.” Dialogue 165
“You, eternal Trinity, are a deep sea. The more I enter you, the more I discover, and the more I discover, the more I seek you.” Dialogue 167
From her letters:
“Love does not stay idle.” Letter T82
“Reflect that God requires nothing else of us except that we show our neighbors the love we have for God.” Letter T89
“Do not be satisfied with little things, because God wants great things!” Letter T127
“Out of darkness is born the light.” Letter T211
“To the servant of God, every place is the right place, and every time is the right time.” Letter T328
“God is more ready to pardon that we have been to sin.” Letter T343
“Consider God’s charity. Where else have we ever seen someone who has been offended voluntarily paying out his life for those who have offended him?” Letter T345
“Hope comes from love, because people always trust in those they love.” Letter T352
“You must believe in truth that whatever God gives or permits is for your salvation.” Letter T354
“There is nothing we can desire or want that we do not find in God.” Letter T360
“If you are what you should be, you will set all of Italy ablaze!” Letter T368
From her prayers:
“Holy Spirit, come into my heart, and in your power draw it to you.” Prayer 6
“It is only through shadows that one comes to know the light.” Prayer 24
And ominous. When prelates such as Cardinal Burke who are privy to details not available for public consumption are concerned about potential schism, the threat must be real.
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