"Is Catholic Ireland Dead?"

[MariaChristi]

Dear Therese 11

Thanks so much for your reply and the link – I read many of the comments after the link and this one sums up many:

I attended Saturdays pro life vigil. At the vigil it was conservatively estimated that 50,000 had turned our for it. RTE tried to say 15,000 but had to eventually agree to about 30,000. Sundays papers hadent a word about it. This has been the biggest march for any issue in the past few years and it is not newsworthy. We are really living in a dictatorship now. Editors and journalists should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for betraying their profession and colluding with this type of dictatorship. We now have to fight twice as hard to be heard so anyone who can get writing to the TD’s and government reps to protest. Enda Kenny refuses to allow people to excercise their concience in voting. Who would believe that we have arrived at this place? The fighting Irish need to start fighting a lot harder. I am pretty mad right now.
Mary (I put the words into bold print for emphasis)

The comment being made by an Irish Woman named “Mary” made me smile, remembering the antiphon we pray in the Legion of Mary before we pray Mary’s Canticle from Luke. The Antiphon is taken from the Song of Songs by Solomon:

“Who is she that comes forth as the Morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array.” (bold print for emphasis)

When Servant of God Frank Duff founded the Legion of Mary in Dublin, Sept 7, 1921, he fashioned this Lay Apostolate after the Legion of Rome because it was possibly the greatest army in history – it conquered the known world of its time. Frank Duff wanted the Legion to Mary’s “spiritual army” to conquer the world for Christ. I joined the Legion as a teenager and I count it a great blessing for it was through the Legion I began to deepen my love for Jesus through Mary, reading St. Louis de Montfort’s treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary”

You are so right, dear Therese, in not giving in to despair – as another Irish girl recently said: “My Catholic Faith is worth fighting for” – that is the spirit of Ireland I inherited from my Mother and Grandmother. May God help us to rise up and follow Jesus through Mary to death if need be – never giving into our enemy! As Mary our Mother promised, in the end, Her Immaculate Heart will Triumph – Her heart is filled with God Who is Love and Love will win the victory!

 

[godisgood77]

Dear godisgood,

Thanks for your reply, as I replied to PJH – not only Ireland but everyone baptized into the Catholic Church needs to ask for the grace to see and repent for we have not done ourselves any favors either – whatever country we are in at present – in the choices we have made individually. As one member of the Body falls into sin, we all are weakened, but as one member rises from sin and earnestly seeks to live in Christ, we all can rise higher and grow in holiness.

Thanks Maria… I agree. I am not perfect and need God’s help. However, I have not sexually abused any children or horribly abused children at orphanages. So while your point is valid at the surface level… who could deny that we are all imperfect? - it falls short in recognizing that the Church has severely failed in its charge in Ireland …

The Church is rightfully held to a higher standard… here’s to hoping for brighter days ahead

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear godisgood,

Thanks for your reply, and for the opportunity if I was not clear in saying: in no way do I excuse the horrendous abuse of minors or adults by clergy or religious or any lay person in Ireland or anywhere else. Those Church leaders who sought to cover-up abuses when evidence was presented to them about these abuse are likewise going to stand before God in judgment.

My point was more to emphasize the need all members of the Church have to look at our own hearts as well. We are ALL called to holiness and we too need to repent, begging God’s Mercy on all of us. Yes, the leaders of the Church in Ireland as well as in other countries have failed severely. We’ve had our share in the USA of Bishops moving priests from one place to another without ever reporting them, even after receiving credible allegations. It is terrible and it calls all of us to pray and offer reparation.

To whom much is given, much is expected. All of us are called in our Baptism to a higher standard: Jesus told his disciples as well as the crowd listening to the Sermon on the Mount: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Sincerely, I believe the Lord is cleansing His Temple – allowing these scandals to become public. The Church needs His Light to see what must be done to correct past failures. We need Him to show each one of us what needs to be cleansed and corrected in our own hearts. By God’s Grace may we “see” by the supernatural gifts of Faith, Hope and Charity, given in Baptism, the Way, the Truth and the Life He has set before us! Thanks again!

 

[therese1998]

How many Catholic really take time to pray and to become the saints God intended us to be?

I don’t know…I can’t judge the situation of others. What I CAN do is commit MYSELF to prayer and let God handle the rest. If I think about it too much, it is a temptation to despair. So I say my prayers and move on

Yes, God has dealt with sin over many ages and peoples – He is Infinitely Loving and Merciful but we have great need, as you pointed out, to pray seriously, and with commitment – and we must pray not only for Ireland but for ourselves and every soul in need of His Mercy.

Agreed!