Pope: Christians must reject worldliness

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Pope Francis: “Money indicates the whole spirit of worldliness: money, vanity, pride - that path…It is truly ridiculous that a Christian, a true Christian…wants to go along the path of worldliness.”

ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-christians-must-reject-worldliness-like-st.-francis/

I love how the Pope is such a great sign of contradiction, just like Our Lord. His words certainly fly in the face of the “health and wealth” gospels that are so popular today. I absolutely love this fact, and it really draws a line in the sand for Catholics who have fallen for that kind of thing.

But,after reflecting on this, another thing became evident to me as well: the irony of some of the “progressive” parishes that preach only part of the Gospel - that of social consciousness only. The odd thing is (at least around here), these are the wealthiest parishes. I mean, the people are really well off, even very rich. Could it be that, for some, stressing the social aspects of the Gospel, and ignoring certain moral aspects, salves their consciences on certain issues? There is a certain self-satisfaction that can say “It’s ok for me to be so rich as long as I give some of it away and put myself forward as a proponent of a “progressive” agenda” and “It’s okay for me to contradict the moral teachings of Christ and His Church because I volunteer now and then at the soup kitchen.”

By the same token , the same thing can be applied to those who promote certain moral teachings of the Church while ignoring certain social aspects. Pope Francis addressed this recently.

If we are going to call ourselves Catholics, we better start representing the whole of the faith, and not just what suits us! Let’s follow Pope Francis’s example of being a “sign of contradiction.”
 
I wonder if the media will ignore this 😉 ? This is a problem for secular and “prosperity” Gospel proponents. I once had a Presbyterian minister ask me in the past after I had gone on a prosperity rant, “what if God wants for you to be poor?”
 
Count me in following the Pope’s exampe to the best of my humble ability…
Well said.
Mary.
 
opus101 said:
But,after reflecting on this, another thing became evident to me as well: the irony of some of the “progressive” parishes that preach only part of the Gospel - that of social consciousness only. The odd thing is (at least around here), these are the wealthiest parishes. I mean, the people are really well off, even very rich. Could it be that, for some, stressing the social aspects of the Gospel, and ignoring certain moral aspects, salves their consciences on certain issues? There is a certain self-satisfaction that can say “It’s ok for me to be so rich as long as I give some of it away and put myself forward as a proponent of a “progressive” agenda” and “It’s okay for me to contradict the moral teachings of Christ and His Church because I volunteer now and then at the soup kitchen.”
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This describes my parish in the USA very well. On top of that, I found it shocking that the staff in charge of religious education are pro premarital sex and homosexual marriages and understand the Church is off it’s rocker on these issues of ‘reality’.

One thing I learned from a priest, (you know the ones that are saints but go unrecognized as people just don’t know how to start a cause for a saint etc…) he said to me that one thing that is very important (for an organization I plan to establish) is to hire people of integrity. I would think that a priest/pastor would assure that the people he hires to assists him teach and practice the Catholic faith. I just don’t understand how so many liberal people are working in these parishes. 🤷
 
Abba said:
This describes my parish in the USA very well. On top of that, I found it shocking that the staff in charge of religious education are pro premarital sex and homosexual marriages and understand the Church is off it’s rocker on these issues of ‘reality’.

One thing I learned from a priest, (you know the ones that are saints but go unrecognized as people just don’t know how to start a cause for a saint etc…) he said to me that one thing that is very important (for an organization I plan to establish) is to hire people of integrity. I would go further and think that a priest/pastor would assure that the people he hires to assists him uphold Catholic values. I just don’t understand how so many liberal people are working in these parishes. 🤷
Click to expand...
Contact your Bishop. Politely explain the facts.

Peace,
Ed
 
jritenour said:
I wonder if the media will ignore this 😉 ? This is a problem for secular and “prosperity” Gospel proponents. I once had a Presbyterian minister ask me in the past after I had gone on a prosperity rant, “what if God wants for you to be poor?”
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Can’t say whether the "media’ in general will ignore it or not but I definitely see some people pointing to the “wealth of the Vatican / Church” as being contrary to these statements…🤷

The problem with asking if the “media” will ignore this or not is that the “media” constitutes a very wide range of publications and viewpoints…

Peace
James
 
Abba said:
I just don’t understand how so many liberal people are working in these parishes. 🤷
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Because good people don’t volunteer. Reminds of the below poem:

Let George Do It

**My name is George.
I’m an all-around handyman, and I’d like you to feel free to use my
service for any and all chores, errands, duties which you may be too
busy to perform. Anytime there’s anything that needs doing
and you’d rather not, you just let George do it.

I’ll write to your congressman for you; I’ll write your newspaper
editor; I’ll serve on the chapter committees in your place; I’ll
do anything you’re too tired to do or preoccupied to do. With me
around, you can be as lazy as you like, or just have fun.
The more the merrier, I always say.

My services are available to you for all the tedious, time-consuming
things which you’d rather duck doing. You haven’t time to do your
pledge assignments. Let George do it. You haven’t time for a service
project. I have. You don’t want to accept committee
assignments and extra responsibilities, anyway.
You let ol’ George tend to those things.

Maybe I’m not as famous as Castro, but if it hadn’t been for me,
you’d never have heard of him. And that goes for Stalin and Hitler
and Mao-Tse-Tung, too. I made those guys! And the big-time racketeers
in the United States. You name ’em…
without me those guys would be nothing.

Why do I want to run errands for you? When I’m the guy who runs all
these “big wheels,” why do I want to run errands for you?
Don’t you see? I get a kick out of electing presidents of student
bodies and school boards. I’m all these things you used to do before
you took up chasing dollars and not being concerned over
your organizations or your responsibilities.

Don’t feel like you’re imposing. I’m glad to be of service. Helping
you, I’m really helping myself. How do you think I was able to take
over and run a third of the world already?
Because nobody else wanted to bother.
They said “Let George do it,” so I did it.

Now I’m taking over in lots of cities and counties and I figure it’s
just a matter of time until I’ll take over in this Church, too.
I want to thank you for making it possible.

Remember now, if there is ever any way in which I can be of help, I’m
at your service. You just have fun and don’t worry about a thing.
I’ll do your worrying, too. I’LL BILL YOU LATER!**
 
I’m so glad he said this. ❤️ I am sick & tired of turning on a so-called Christian radio station and hearing the woman who’s still “believing God for an airplane”! The prosperity gospel is hooey.
 
He is right, but I fear he might as well beat his head against a brick wall. Every church I have been involved with has had money raising as its most significant activity. The church I attend now has bake sales, burger stands, and a huge fall “hunter’s and fisher’s dinner” with a 50plus prize raffle which includes, of course, members of the community pushing raffle tickets on friends and acquaintances; in the past there was frequent bingo. There are even paid advertisements on church bulletins passed out after Mass! These money-raising activities consume tremendous energy. Religious practices outside of formal attendance at Mass are negligible; there may be some Catholics practicing some religious exercises but many don’t even know what they are. Some churches that have tried perpetual adoration have had to give it up limiting adoration to a few hours a day.

After reading the above, I realized the question that will likely be raised is "well, what is the local church supposed to do to support itself?: The answer is that the parishioners are supposed to contribute money to support the church so that religion, not commerce, can be the primary and principal goal. If you do a little penciling you will likely find that when you total up all the time and effort spent by parishioners in these money raising projects they are making less than minimum wage when you find out what the church nets from the effort. Yes, the church is not just for those who can contribute, but there are those who can afford to be quite generous.
 
phil19034 said:
Because good people don’t volunteer. Reminds of the below poem:

Let George Do It

My name is George.
I’m an all-around handyman, and I’d like you to feel free to use my
service for any and all chores, errands, duties which you may be too
busy to perform. Anytime there’s anything that needs doing
and you’d rather not, you just let George do it.

I’ll write to your congressman for you; I’ll write your newspaper
editor; I’ll serve on the chapter committees in your place; I’ll
do anything you’re too tired to do or preoccupied to do. With me
around, you can be as lazy as you like, or just have fun.
The more the merrier, I always say.

My services are available to you for all the tedious, time-consuming
things which you’d rather duck doing. You haven’t time to do your
pledge assignments. Let George do it. You haven’t time for a service
project. I have. You don’t want to accept committee
assignments and extra responsibilities, anyway.
You let ol’ George tend to those things.

Maybe I’m not as famous as Castro, but if it hadn’t been for me,
you’d never have heard of him. And that goes for Stalin and Hitler
and Mao-Tse-Tung, too. I made those guys! And the big-time racketeers
in the United States. You name ’em…
without me those guys would be nothing.

Why do I want to run errands for you? When I’m the guy who runs all
these “big wheels,” why do I want to run errands for you?
Don’t you see? I get a kick out of electing presidents of student
bodies and school boards. I’m all these things you used to do before
you took up chasing dollars and not being concerned over
your organizations or your responsibilities.

Don’t feel like you’re imposing. I’m glad to be of service. Helping
you, I’m really helping myself. How do you think I was able to take
over and run a third of the world already?
Because nobody else wanted to bother.
They said “Let George do it,” so I did it.

Now I’m taking over in lots of cities and counties and I figure it’s
just a matter of time until I’ll take over in this Church, too.
I want to thank you for making it possible.

Remember now, if there is ever any way in which I can be of help, I’m
at your service. You just have fun and don’t worry about a thing.
I’ll do your worrying, too. I’LL BILL YOU LATER!
Click to expand...
How true, how sad!
 
jritenour said:
I wonder if the media will ignore this 😉 ? This is a problem for secular and “prosperity” Gospel proponents. I once had a Presbyterian minister ask me in the past after I had gone on a prosperity rant, “what if God wants for you to be poor?”
Click to expand...
I have seen this covered in various mass media. Prosperity gospel is a misnomer at best, and in fact just a ridiculous money raising tactic that, unfortunately, sucks a lot of desperate people in.
 
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