Youâre not alone! I have never experienced this feeling in any of the past papal elections that I remember (I was alive for the elections of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Francis, but remember only John Paul I onwards). I respected all the popes I remember, but Francis is carving out a special place in my heart for himâŚ
There isnât any evidence to prove that God doesnât exist either. Pascalâs wager
For me at least, it turned out to be one heck of a beautiful gamble. I learned, among other things, that heaven and hell donât start after we die. We can create hell for ourselves right here on Earth, and we can also get a small taste of heaven here too. But the most beautiful lessons learned are that obedience = freedom, humility is empowering, and Godâs graces and mercy are liberally distributed for the mere asking.Ah but you can get access to them. You see, 15 years ago I would have been able to sign my posts âAtheist boyâ. If youâd told me before then that I would return to my Catholic faith, and would have become a Benedictine Oblate, and would have had my marriage convalidated by the Church, I would have given myself a heart attack from laughing too hard. Itâs notable to keep in mind too, that I was trained as a scientist and worked as a chemist for many years too⌠so I have a very cartesian mind as well. Never thought back then that I also had a spiritual side.But people like Pope Francis and Brother here frustrate the heck out of me.
Such good, intelligent, beautiful men, who have devoted their life to the service of a Being I simply canât get access to
But we must never lose sight that they are also Godâs children, and âthere but for the grace of God go Iâ. The zeal of the newly converted knows no limits. Been there, done that!
True, but also Godâs children. We must pray that they come 'round.
If youâre here, dear Sarah, itâs because youâre searching for something greater than yourself, and thatâs a beautiful thing because it shows that God is already working on you and showing you His grace (even though many of us here probably do drive you crazy as well).
I did not know that, thank you for sharing it. It brought tears to my eyes, as I do get the importance. I have three children and all the things Pope Francis has done so far :thumbsup:gives me much more hope in our Church. I believe our Church and the world will be better for it. I hope Pope Francis lives a long healthy life.
Actually, he personally invited them to serve at his mass. Itâs the first time that religious have been invited to serve that mass. Itâs always done by the diocesan seminarians. He wanted the Observant Franciscans, because they are the ones who live in the original mother house of the Franciscan Oder.
He also invited the Superior General of the Jesuits and the Superior General of the Franciscans to be among the cardinals who concelebrated. Neither of these men are bishops. Itâs the first time that religious have been asked to concelebrate. He has now appointed them the President and Vice President of the Council on Religious Life. I believe thatâs the right term. It will be a Jesuit and a Franciscan who will be leading the superiors general of the different religious orders around the world. This is going to be interesting. The media did not say much about this. I believe that the media does not understand the importance of this move. I was speaking with a very good friend of mine who is a holy and devout secular priest. He didnât understand why this was important. Many outside of religious life would not understand.
It did occur to me that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI could be blessed with longevity.
You should be, your young! enjoy your life, God will wait for you. When you are ready, He will be there.
Iâm busy!!!
Sarah x
And He is busy loving you
Iâm busy!!!
Sarah x
Iâve never tried to gain access to God. If I were made of pure logic, I would still be a Catholic. At the end of the day, what would I lose? However, if there is a God and I did not worship him, Iâd have a lot to lose. Thatâs if I were made of pure logic.
I have never been interested in the Papacy.
I didnât know anything about Popes until two years ago when I came here.
This man, Pope Francis, for some reason, has me captivated.
There is something about him that I find absolutely absorbing and fascinating.
Iâll come clean here.
I donât believe there is sufficient evidence supporting the existence of any Deity.
But people like Pope Francis and Brother here frustrate the heck out of me.
Such good, intelligent, beautiful men, who have devoted their life to the service of a Being I simply canât get access to
You have a lot of company. Around here priests are reporting record numbers of confessions for this last week of Lent compared to the same week last year. I visited a priest friend of mine today. His parish had 500 confessions last Saturday. They had to call the neighboring parish for help. Another parish had to dust off some retired priest, There were five lines for confession this Saturday. Everyone on line was talking about Pope Francisâ sermon on mercy.
Blessed by whom?
That little monastery is turning into a nursing home for former popes.
This answers a question that came up today when I saw that Papa Francesco wasnât going to move into the papal apartments in the palace just quite yet. Iâm assuming heâll defer doing so as long as possible. I could imagine him smiling bemusedly at the thought that he would release himself from his vow of poverty.
This is awesome. Thanks for posting it, fratello!
)?Why would a religious want to leave his vows, unless heâs leaving religious life?
Several things seem to have happened at the same time. Thanks to the Jesuits, the diocesan clergy began to get a good education. Prior to that it was hit and miss. Diocesan priests became more structured and respect for them increased. As this happened, the number of men who responded to the call to the priesthood, without the religious life, increased. After a while, the number of secular bishops and cardinals far outnumbered the regular bishops and cardinals.This is awesome. Thanks for posting it, fratello!
May I ask why (if there is an explanation) the new orders seem to give a good bunch of Popes, and then peter out (pun intended
Thank you!
from Cardinal Mahonyâs tweets on March 16.
Perhaps Cardinal Mahoney should be keeping a lower profile?
I believe that people are confusing the signals. Part of the problem is that we have a highly clericalized Catholicism. During the last 200 years or so, the religious life has taken a back seat to the priesthood. Priests who belong to religious order, who are in fact both priests and consecrated religious, have become so involved in pastoral matters that the religious dimension often goes undetected by the world. When you look at a priest who is a religious and a diocesan priest you should be able to see a difference, unfortunately, we donât.
You are right. Many people, both âtraditionalistâ and âliberalâ do seem to wrongly equate use of symbols and liturgical trappings with doctrinal stance.
Good gravy no!
Well, it is true that symbols can be abused and devolve into semi-political rallying calls. Liberals will say we need a more âcompassionate Church,â and they will point to the compassion of Christ. There is a genuine Christ-like compassion, but then there is also the shibboleth of these Catholics by which what they really mean is accepting sin and filth, if not overtly then at least by tone and emphasis and in other, murkier areas.
While there is merit in what you say, I would strongly argue that there is no conflict whatsoever between wanting a more compassionate Church (and I think we do need this) and not accepting sin. We can, and should be compassionate to all people, no matter what sins they have committed. We are called to love the sinner (unconditionally) while at the same time rejecting the sin. As to filth, Iâm not sure what you mean, I would like to think that this isnât referring to the actual sinners, as to regard sinners as such is in direct contradiction to the teachings of Christ.
That is true, and symbols can indeed be powerful tools. But like all tools at our disposal they should be used (or shelved) according to the prevailing circumstances the Church finds itself in. We should think, âThis is our message, who are we trying to convince and evangelise, which symbols will help us evangelise these people, taking into account the culture and mindset of these people, and other external circumstancesâ and then choose our symbols accordingly.
But it is all about perception. Symbols are simply a man-made language designed to communicate meaning. Evangelisation is best done in a language that those youâre trying to evangelise will find understandable.
On that we will have to disagree, the SSPX and Sedevacantists are not ânormalâ traditionalists. They are schismatics and are guilty of heresy. Do they respect the infallibility of all documents of the Sacred Magisterium of our Church? It is heresy not to do so. Thereâs nothing orthodox about heresy.
I think we are saying the same thing. There is a true meaning of compassion, and a false one. The true meaning is that we are always ready to accept true contrition. The fake meaning is the National catholic Register type, which means accepting sinfulness and immorality. We must do the former, and cannot do the latter.
I know, I think you misread me. I said I do not include sedes in my definition of normal traditionalists. Still not sure of the SSPX, looking more negative day by day.
