Posted on 04/27/2017 6:55:58 PM PDT by ebb tide
“Please, you cannot be more restrictive than the Church itself or more papists than the Pope: open the doors, do not do asses on Christian perfection, because by doing so you are promoting a hypocritical attitude.” Amid applause, Pope Francis addressed the International Catholic Action Federation (Fiac), which he received on the eve of his trip to Egypt, and recommended its leaders “not to “clericalize” the laity, to be more outgoing and willing to sacrifice, aware, he warned that this could “cause you some problems because by doing so, more people will want to join the organization even though they apparently are not in a position to do so. Families whose parents have not married in the Church, men and women struggling with a difficult past and an even more difficult present situation, disoriented and wounded young people. “At the beginning of the meeting, Francesco kissed a psalm found at the bottom of an immigrant boat arrived to Lampedusa.
Speaking to the 300 participants in Spanish, and rarely looking at his text, the Pope developed an extensive and explanatory discourse divided into six themes: charisma in the light of “Evangelii gaudium”, the patterns of action , the agents, the recipients and the style that has to have the Catholic Action, and finally their Project. The first point the Bishop of Rome spoke of was the charism of Catholic Action as he asked “how can we reformulate the charism in the light of the” Evangelii Gaudium?”, which is the Framework of all the apostolic action in the Church today “. The Pontiff said that the charism of Catholic Action must be the same as “that of the Church incarnated in today and in every diocesan Church”, supported by four fundamental pillars: prayer, formation, sacrifice and apostolate, of which the Apostolate has to be the distinctive trait ensuring that there is an integrating dynamism within its mission”.
The Holy Father identified mission as the fundamental task of the Catholic Action and invited to renew and update this commitment for evangelization, reaching all and all existential peripheries, undertaking the Mission of the Church in its totality.”
Speaking about the agents, Francis indicated that all members of Catholic Action ought to be missionaries and urged them to let the Holy Spirit lead them. “He is the inner guide that enlightens our work,” he said.
Bergoglio asked the leaders of Catholic Action: “Please do not be patrollers. Do not be more restrictive than the Church itself or more Papists than the Pope. Please, “he said in the midst of the applause, open the doors, do not do examine Christianity to perfection, because by doing so you are promoting a hypocritical attitude.” “We need active mercy. “Everyone – the Pope said - has the right to be an evangelizer”. What Catholic Action can offer is “a welcoming space of Christian experience to those who, for personal reasons, feel as second-class Christians.”
“Catholic Action should be present in politics, business activities, professional world but also prisons, hospitals, slums, factories,” the Pope asked Catholic Action not to become “an exclusive institution with nothing to say not even to the Church itself. “Everyone has the right to be evangelizers” he insisted. “I want Catholic action among people, in the parish, in the diocese, in the country, in the neighborhood, in the family, in the streets, in every areas of life.”
In conclusion of his speech, the Pope quoted 1937 “La Acción Católica a luz de la teología Tomista”: to get along, to get involved, to accompany, to fructify and to celebrate, making a journey together. Feel the joy of faith! Do not fall into the temptation of structuralism,” Francisco exhorted. “The Catholic passion,” he affirmed, “is the passion of the Church to live the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing.”
Cardinal Kevin Farrel introduced the event, but before that, he listened to some members of Catholic Action. Among others, representatives of AC Lampedusa, Italy, Salvatore Scibetta and his assistant Don Carmelo La Magra, who work front line to welcome the migrants. “From Lampedusa,- Emiliano Inzaurraga, coordinator of the International Form of AC explained – comes as a gift to the Holy Father, an English copy of the New Testament and the Psalms that was found in the bottom of a boat. We know nothing about the fate of the person who guarded this text, we only know that one of the pages, damaged by the journey, is carefully folded in Psalm 55, which begins: “Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.” These words perfectly describe the feelings and prayers of the migrants who reach our shores daily,” Inzaurraga said while Pope Francis took the Gospel and kissed it.
You know, I can agree with some of what this guy said, according to a certain point of view. Jesus himself said to go and make disciples of all nations. And while Paul evangelized over pretty much all over the Roman Empire, he made sure to adjust his message to tell the same truths in the worldview of different people. And he had some pretty colorful words to say about people who demanded that the Christian Church adopt Jewish traditions.
So in the sense that we shouldn’t become married to one specific worship style, or force Christians in other countries to accept our Western traditions, while still being true to the Gospel? Yeah, I could agree with that, more or less.
...
I suspect, however, that what Pope Frank means by his words is pretty much the exact opposite of what Scripture says and is just the ooey gooey feely goody so-called gospel of Leftism.
There is no one more papist than a Jesuit tinpot pope from South America who ignores his predecessors and only quotes his own garbage.
Is Bergoglio going to try to make disciples of the nation of Egypt this weekend?
I hope he does and has a serious road to Damascus experience.
But... I doubt it.
Many of the Jewish Traditions were commanded by God himself, thus the Traditional Latin Mass alludes to them, as fulfilled by Christ our Lord, and therefore the Jewishness fulfilled is a drama that does set the precedent for much of the movement and fixtures in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The beauty alone, when well done, is astounding in itself, but internalizing the prayers is the finest form of conversion and catachesis. It has all been dashed and truncated, replaced with the Big Band approach to move ‘em in and move ‘em out, preferably in 60 minutes.
I grow tired of seeing your gleeful postings every time something doesn’t go right for the President.
And anyone with half a brain can tell how happy you are when things go wrong for Trump, so don’t try to hide it.
I’m bored of this flame war. Unlike last night where I was weary, right now I just felt like calling you out. Bye-bye, toots.
Whoop, sorry. Wrong person. How did THAT happen?
Hey, it happens. There are some constant whiners, and NeverTrump concern trolls camping out around here, especially at this hour. :)
And yet in Galatians, Paul really let loose on those Jews who were claiming that you had to be circumcised and become Jewish in order to gain salvation.
That was the kind of tradition I was talking about; the kind that gets in the way of Salvation. It was good once—in this case, it was commanded by the Lord once—but it became an obstacle to the Gospel instead.
Also like the bronze serpent that Moses created at the Lord’s command. Hezekiah had to break it up because people were making sacrifices to it instead of to God.
It’s often human nature that traditions that are very useful and lovely to one generation become stumbling blocks to the next.
Now, if Pope Frank was saying that as long as the Gospel message remains proclaimed faithfully, to not get hung up on minor differences, that’s one thing.
Because that would be faithful to what the Apostle Paul wrote: “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”
Though really I doubt that’s what he meant.
Hey, it happens. There are some constant whiners, and NeverTrump concern trolls camping out around here, especially at this hour. :)
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You said it!
I probably shouldn’t let them get under my skin, but they do.
I see the circumcision issue at that time as a transition issue. I am sure there were a number of things that needed ironing out during that transition from Old to New.
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