Zach, lets not exclude fellow Catholics in our zeal for the Faith. Eastern Catholics are just as Catholic in full communion with the Roman Church, but not at all Roman themselves.
Please forgive my inability to properly explain myself. I remain forever your servant and sincerely hope we can now move forward with charity and peace.
Many are very quick to wrongly and outrageously accuse the SSPX of having invalid confessions, yet they will not warn you that some modernist priests in full communion with Pope Francis, will sometimes give bad advice in the confessional, and even go as far as to tell you that certain mortal sins are not really sins at all.
Church’s, like human beings, grow and change over the years. Let us not make the same mistake as the reformers, dearly beloved, and think that we are better suited to interpreting Sacred Scripture/Sacred Tradition than The Magisterium. Pride comes before the fall and leads us into all sorts of heresy, not that I am pointing that statement at you personally. Accepting the faults of others, whether its a singular person or entire church, with charity and grace is a large part of spiritual formation and we must first extend this courtesy to those of our own family. No one denies that there are serious issues in the modern Church, but that does not give us the right or reason to ever criticize or slanderize those who stand above us in the faith. Let us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, as the apostle says. To look back at the past and sniff out ways in which to condemn either priests, or The Pope, or The Church in general bends strikingly close to those strifes St. Paul warned St. Timothy about in his epistles. Either way, are we not called to keep our eyes pressed forward towards the mark of Christ? If then, with eyes fixed on Our Lord, we should come across some point or mark of interest that begs questioning we can trust it came from the Holy Spirit. But if we get our lessons from YouTube videos we can trust that we are very immature in the Faith and most likely being led astray. Wide is the gate that leads to destruction and many are they who walk through it unawares. Such is the way with this new breed of YouTube Philosophers - though again, of course, I am not pointing this at you. It is a sad thing but I have found that people on here are so terrible delicate in their emotional state that they assume any point of negation is directed at them as an insult or personal slight. Such is rarely my intention.
Please also check with your diocese, and find out if this church is in communion with Rome. Between that, and talking with the priest, you should have the information you need. Best wishes.
Hi Heather,
