Monday, April 27, 2009

LCWR: prophets of futility & New Age gnosticism

From Domine, da mihi hanc aquam

this explains a lot about the decline of many orders of sisters religious, they are no longer catholic

The Egyptian

Again, waiting for my bowl of coffee to kick in, I did a little browsing on the website of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). They have posted information about their annual assemblies, including the texts of the presidential addresses and keynote speeches.

I read through several of the keynote speeches, and I noticed a couple of themes (that's what we Old Lit Teachers do--look for themes). Here's just a few in no particular order:

1. "Mission": all of the addresses I read (four of them) exhort the sisters to mission. But never the mission of the Church that we would recognize as evangelization, that is, the preaching and teaching of the gospel that Christ gave to the apostles. The mission the sisters are exhorted to take up is always, always some form of left-liberal social engineering disguised as caring for Earth or insuring access to adequate health for women.

2). Insularity: despite the exhortations to "mission," all of the addresses I read include broad descriptions of the history of women religious as a way of "situating" the experience of these women within their own "mission," in other words, they spend a lot of page space on talking to one another about one another's grand innovations after the VC2 and how these innovations are radically different from anything that's come before. There's quite a bit of self-congratulation here, along with laundry lists of excuses why their missions have failed to produce global results. The villian in their failures, by the way, is always the hierarchy. Big surprise.

3). "Prophetic": as a corollary to their mission and insularity, the addresses harp on how "prophetic" women religious are in these innovations. As far as I can tell, "prophetic" means whatever they want it to mean. It clearly does not mean what the Church means by the term. If the examples used are typical, "prophetic" means something like "doing what we please and then accusing the Church of being too traditional, oppressive, and isolated from the world for not following our lead." Beware self-anointed prophets!

4). "We missed out": probably the most interesting theme is what I will call the We Missed Out theme. This theme arises in several discussions of the scientific and technological revolutions of the 20th century. Apparently, this theme is meant to demonstrate the superiority of a modernist worldview over and against a wholly Christian worldview. But what arises is a kind of lament that these women have somehow missed out on the revolutions and long to stir one of their own so as to feel somehow prophetic. I've found a similar theme in recent court opinions allowing same-sex "marriage"--judges too young to have participated in the heady days of near absolute judicial power during the civil rights era of the 60's invent a place for themselves in legal history by making what laws they can from the bench. We want to shine. . .but a light we ourselves generate.

5). Futility: without exception the addresses I read painted depressing portraits of women religious as a tiny rebel band fighting the Sheriff of Rome. As part of the insularity painted by these addresses is a tragic sense of loss and the futility of their "mission" in the face of overwhelming authoritarian oppression by men. Apparently, we are to believe that women religious in the U.S. are guerrilla-fighters engaged in a war of attrition against the Church. Unfortunately for them, the attrition is all on their side. Rhetorically, these portraits serve an important purpose: by painting themselves as righteous rebels fighting a losing battle agaist the Man, the sisters are able to both continue their rebellion and justify their material failures all the while claiming moral victory. Neat, uh?

6). Jesus ain't the Way: also without exception the addresses forthrightly deny Jesus' own claim that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. As a way of undermining the Church's legitimate mission of evangelization, Jesus becomes just another good guy with a really cool message of pacificism, egalitarian communal life, and a feminist concern for eco-politics. In one address, delivered by Joan Chittister, the arrival of mosques in historically Christian lands is celebrated as a great advance for liberty and the pursuit of religious diversity. She argues that worrying about the decline in numbers of women religious is a "capitalist question" and holds that the the decimation of covents and monasteries after VC2 is a good sign for the Church! Apparently, the complete loss of a discernible Christian identity among some women religious is to be celebrated as a movement of the Holy Spirit and a great advance in human-spiritual evolution.

7). Monotonality: the addresses are uniformly written and delivered by women religious who tell the gathered sisters only what they wanted to hear. There were no addresses that seriously challenged any of the preconceived notions held dear by these women. Without exception. the meme's of "We Are the Future and Our Agenda is of God" is heard in terms of ecclesial revolution and theological dissent. Not one address challenged the sisters to rethink their assumptions along orthodox lines. Not one address asserted a theme, idea, theology, or political notion that would upset or stir the secular feminist pot these women are stewing in. Despite the constant harping on the need for a variety of voices to be heard in the Church and the desperate need for new ideas among God's people, these addresses repeated in predictable loops one stale feminist cliche after another. Ironically, the obstinate refusal to listen to different voices is routinely described as a failing characteristic of the male-dominated Church hierarchy!

8). New Stories: as a result of the We Missed Out theme, the addresses pull on recent developments in cosmology to construct "new stories" about creation, space-time, human evolution, and the role of consciousness in our pursuit of holiness. Of course, none of these new stories read like anything found in scripture, tradition, science, or Church teaching. In fact, the purpose of the new stories is to lay a narrative foundation for a particularly gnostic-feminist view of the human person that "frees" us from the confines of patriarchal thinking by re-situating the human race as just another evolved species living and dying in a vast cosmos. Routinely, the addresses privilege "new cosmologies" over and against our biblical narratives of creation and the end of space-time, and undermine God's Self-revelation in scripture. Rhetorically, the new cosmologies give the sisters a means of defying our Judeo-Christian tradition with the authority of modernist science. Unfortunately, their grasp of the scientific details of cosmology is woefully inadequate, leaving them to play with a pathetic parody of actual cosmological theories.

Let me point out here that the LCWR is a leadership conference. By no means am I attributing these themes or attitudes to all women religious in the congregations that participate in the LCWR. I know sisters in LCWR congregations who fret about the feminist turn of their communities and lament the loss of their Christian identity to trendy New Age gnosticism. Younger women religious aren't buying this anti-Church junk food, choosing instead to nourish themselves on the vast variety of legit Catholic traditions well within the generous range of orthodoxy. My fisking here is directed at the addresses themselves and what they tell us about what the LCWR is hearing and/or wants to hear. As anyone who's a member of a large organization knows: leadership is often way, way out in front of those they lead. . .sometimes too far out. I think this is certainly the case with the LCWR.

I could go on. . .but it's time for another bowl of coffee!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

the Catholic Cavemen will love this

Not the right Branch but we are all under the same Flag, go get em boys

Photobucket

Tradition vs Liberalism

Don't know how to explain this post, has been troubling me for a while. first we have an excerpt from the Holy fathers letter explaining the lifting of the excommunication of the bishops of the SSPX. Next is a video of a procession at Econe of the SSPX, look at the number of priests, and seminarians, and they look smart not a bunch of slouches and all those MALE servers and they all have their hands folded properly not bouncing off their groin and shuffling along. No wonder the liberals in the church are threatened by the SSPX. Finally we have a post from Cath Con about the troubles in Lintz, Austria. A hotbed of liberalism run totally amuck. I believe it makes an interesting juxtaposition of Tradition and Liberalism, and the fruits thereof.

The Egyptian

http://cathcon.blogspot.com/2009/03/papal-letter-unofficial-english-version.html

Can we be totally indifferent about a community which has 491 priests, 215 seminarians, 6 seminaries, 88 schools, 2 university-level institutes, 117 religious brothers, 164 religious sisters and thousands of lay faithful? Should we casually let them drift farther from the Church? I think for example of the 491 priests. We cannot know how mixed their motives may be. All the same, I do not think that they would have chosen the priesthood if, alongside various distorted and unhealthy elements, they did not have a love for Christ and a desire to proclaim him and, with him, the living God. Can we simply exclude them, as representatives of a radical fringe, from our pursuit of reconciliation and unity? What would then become of them?



requesting an amnesty for Father Friedl
http://cathcon.blogspot.com/2009/03/eight-priests-having-affairs-write-to.html

On Monday priest Josef Friedl must meet Bishop Ludwig Schwarz. The conversation topic is sensitive, Friedl has finally admitted that he has had a companion in life. Protection for the parish priest of Ungenach now comes from a group of priest in relationships. A group of eight priests who are in affairs with women - most of them with children - will now support Father Josef Friedl with a letter to Bishop Ludwig Schwarz . "We want to ask the bishop to show understanding for the situation of Josef Friedl and let leniency prevail," says Werner K. (Editor's name known), parish priest in a parish in Upper Austria.

He and his wife have several children and meet regularly with eight priests also in relationships. "There are still plenty of others that share our fate," he says. In his parish, the relationship with a woman and the children together was not a secret and "no problem".
Cathcon had cause to visit a priest near Linz a few years ago and found himself sitting around a table with cohabitee and some "adopted" children. Report tomorrow on Cathcon- its just the tip of the iceberg. How did the Bishops ever allow it to get into this state?





Heres Easter Bunny

Sorry but this pic is just too funny, reminds me of our dog, Suzy






Monday, April 13, 2009

Miracle of Yom Kippur, Miracle of Eucharist

I ran across this in my surfing, interesting read since I have a Brother who is a practicing Jew

the Egyptian

From the Bread from Heaven Blog

Several years ago I read Roy Schoeman’s book Salvation is from the Jews. He tells the story of his conversion to the Catholic Faith. He was formerly a devout Jew. I was struck with his story about the Jewish Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur. I had never heard of this before and I was skeptical. So I contacted a university library and paid for copies of the references in the Talmud (Yoma 39) and Zohar ((Vayikra, Section 3). Mr. Schoeman’s quotes were absolutely accurate. I would like to share it with you on this Good Friday.

Excerpted from:Salvation is From the Jews by Roy Schoeman pp. 130-132.

Both the Talmud and Zohar contain accounts of how in the days of the Temple, the High Priest would once a year–on Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement”–enter the Holy of Holies and offer sacrifice for the atonement of the sin of all Israel. Both mention the “miracle of the scarlet thread, in which a scarlet thread would miraculously turn white as the sign that God had accepted the sacrifice. From the account in the Zohar (Vayikra, Section 3, condensed)

All the sins are (taken) away…. on this day, the defilement of the soul and of the body…All that day…God makes atonement for Israel and purifies them from all their sins and they are not accused before Him…On this day the priest….makes atonement for himself and his house and the priests and the sanctuary of all Israel…They used to know by a certain thread of scarlet if the priest had been successful…It was known by the thread changing its color to white, when there was rejoicing above and below. If it did not, however, all were distressed, knowing that their prayer had not been accepted.

The scarlet thread turning white would be the sign that God had accepted the sacrifice and forgiven the Jewish people their sins (”though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red they may become white as wool”–Isaiah 1:18) Yet the Talmud itself reports that forty years before the Temple was destroyed, this great miracle, which gave divine confirmation that the High Priest’s sacrifice had been accepted taking away the sins of the Jewish people, ceased to occur. The passage from the Talmud reads (Rosh Hashanah 31b):

Originally they used to fasten the thread of scarlet on the door of the Temple court on the outside. If it turned white the people used to rejoice, and if it did not turn white they were sad…For forty years before the destruction of the Temple the thread of scarlet never turned white but it remained red.

The Temple was destroyed about 70 A.D.; hence the miracle ceased to occur at about 30 A.D., which is precisely when the crucifixion took place—the crucifixion that replaced the sacrifices of the Old Covenant with that of Jesus on the Cross. According to the New Testament at the very moment that Jesus died on the Cross the curtain of the Temple that separated off the Holy of Holies was rent in two, symbolizing the end of the efficacy of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. It is the Talmud itself that unwittingly confirms this when it recounts that from that time on—forty years before the desruction of the Temple in 70A.D.–the scarlet thread never again turned white.

And in the New Covenant we have the miracle of transubstantion at every celebration of the Sacrifice of Christ.

Below are two online sources of this practice and it’s extinction.

Tabernacle in Branson
Later on in Temple history a certain ritual was added to all of this, using three scarlet woolen ropes. One scarlet rope was tied to the horns of the sacrificial goat, one was tied to the horns of the scapegoat and one hung from the front of the temple. After all the Yom Kippur sacrifices were completed by the High Priest a mighty miracle took place. The scarlet rope hanging from the temple supernaturally turned “white”. This was God’s sign to the Israelites that their sins were forgiven, conforming to Isa. 1:18, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow”.

However, immediately after the crucifixion of Yeshua (Jesus) and for the next 40 years until the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., the scarlet cord never turned “white” again. This, too, was God’s answer to the Israelites - that there was no need for that to happen any longer because the sacrifice of Yeshua, the “blood of atonement” that He shed on the tree of sacrifice, put an end to the Mosaic sacrificial system.

Wild Olive
The Talmud, the Jewish sacred writings second only in importance to the Tanach, record that one of the sacrificial animals had a scarlet cord tied around its neck, which turned white when GOD had accepted atonement for the people. This miracle occurred every nearly every year for around 1500 years but did not occur again from the year Jesus was crucified until the Temple was destroyed and all Temple worship ceased. (Talmud yoma 39a)

Cure for the Obama Hangover

Here is my favorite Evangelical Preacher, Doug Giles, yes he is rough but but hits the point with sledgehammer, yes this is a Catholic blog, but in the spirit of Vatican 2, here he is

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Vatican blocks Caroline Kennedy appointment as US ambassador

This is almost fun, what is this now number 4 or 5 that has been refused, all pro death small "c" catholic in name only bozos the anointed one has put up for the post, does 'HE" really think that the Holy Father and the Church will "change" for him. What a dip sh--.

the Egyptian

The Vatican has blocked the appointment of Caroline Kennedy as US ambassador, according to reports.

The Vatican has blocked the appointment of Caroline Kennedy as US ambassador, according to reports.

Vatican sources told Il Giornale that their support for abortion disqualified Ms Kennedy and other Roman Catholics President Barack Obama had been seeking to appoint.

Mr Obama was reportedly seeking to reward John F Kennedy's daughter, who publicly gave her support to his election bid. She had been poised to replace Hillary Clinton as New York senator, but dropped out amid criticism that she lacked enough experience for the job.

The Italian paper said that the Vatican strongly disapproved of Mr Obama's support for abortion and stem cell research. The impasse over the ambassadorial appointment threatens to cloud his meeting with the Pope during a G8 summit in Itay in July.

Ms Kennedy, 53, has said that she supports abortion. Raymond Flynn, a former US ambassador to the Vatican, said earlier this week that Ms Kennedy would be a poor choice.

"It's imperative, it's essential that the person who represents us to the Holy See be a person who has pro-life values. I hope the President doesn't make that mistake," he told the Boston Herald. "She said she was pro-choice. I don't assume she's going to change that, which is problematic."

The White House refused to comment.


BWAHAAAAAA, GO GET EM PAPA

Something To Ponder...

I CAN ALMOST BELIEVE IT

After an exhaustive review of the research literature, here's the final word on nutrition and health:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
2. Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
4. Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
5. Germans drink beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.
6. The French eat foie-gras and full fat cheese and drink red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

CHRIST THE LORD IS RISIN TODAY



Happy Easter everyone, god bless you and yours and may your day be enjoyed with family and friends

The Egyptian

Friday, April 10, 2009

Chuckie spills the beans

Chuckie Shumer is explaining that we knew all along, from a gay activist Catholic hating sodomite to head the Omassiah's faith based programs to Catholic in Name only pro abortion Democraps, to having the gall to keep sending the names of same to the Vatican as ambassador nominees, this Administration is MOLOCH, Satan is having a ball right now, he has even got Notre Shame in his grasp, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY

The Egyptian


Standing on My Head

Thank you Fr. Longnecker, this is a wonderful observation of the spoiled all about me attitude so prevalent in the western world, God Bless You Fr.

The Egyptian


Have you ever thought how much happier everyone would be if they didn't expect to be happy? If you change your expections you'd be surprised how much less you would be disappointed.

One of the greatest problems in American society is that assumption that life should be happy. After all, isn't America all about 'Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'? So we have a nation of people frantically chasing the elusive butterfly of happiness and all they find is misery.

Every summer I take some of our students on a mission trip to El Salvador to work with the poor. The first summer one girl came back and said, "The most amazing thing is that those people are so poor, but they are so happy! I come home here and all my friends live in huge houses with four car garages and their moms are all on Prozac because they're miserable."

Its true. I've seen couples who have fabulous amounts of money and the guy hits a mid life crisis and ruins everything by getting a wig, a sports car and a new trophy wife. I've seen women who have loving, rich husbands, nice kids a fabulous house and everything money can buy. Then she hits a mid life crisis, imagines her husband is having an affair, gets paranoid sues for divorce and takes him to the cleaners. All they get is misery, misery and more misery.

The problem is they thought life was supposed to be happy. They really thought that life was supposed to be a comfort zone. They invested huge amounts of time, money and effort creating and defending a happy little world. They got everything in place and still wound up not only being miserable, but making everyone else in their world miserable too.

Now if they stopped thinking that life was supposed to be happy, then they wouldn't be so disappointed. What if they shifted their perspective totally and thought that life was actually supposed to be an adventure? What if they thought life was meant to be full of sorrow, hardship, struggle, pain and hard work? Then think how happy they would be! When troubles came along they would say, "Hey! this is life! This is what life is supposed to be like! It's time to get to work."

When life was hard, self sacrifice was demanded and suffering hits them like a ton of bricks they would say, "Here's a chance for my soul to be refined. Here's a chance to share in the suffering of Christ. Here's a chance to share in the work of redemption!" They might be miserable, but they already thought life was going to be miserable, so although they're miserable they're not disappointed.

On the other hand, when life is good and things are going well, think how happy, truly happy they will be. Because they expected hardship and suffering and self sacrifice they are grateful and free. They are grateful for every little blessing, every little grace, every little bit of goodness. What they have found is not only happiness, but true joy.

So during this Holy Week, if things are bad for you, if the future looks bleak, if your relationships are sour, if your confidence is low, if you feel rejected and alone and depressed, ask God to help you change your perspective. Stand on your head for a moment and see that life is not really about the pursuit of happiness.

It's about the pursuit of joy.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

don't ya just love modern technology

My apologies Russ, I wanted to upload some pictures and my POS computer won't open the chip from my camera or a disc burned from it, so till I get if fixed, we are stuck with cut and past and my own opinion, and now farm work will be slowing my blogging down too yet, got to love it.

The Egyptian ;>)

Newt Nails It

How can a new convert get the idea and Priests, Bishops and life long Catholics not? Newt has a great idea, instead of protesting at ND, give a listen

The Egyptian