A Catholic friend called early this morning to tell us that the Pope was departing the Vatican. Originally I planned to write on DQ#2 concerning eschatology and the ignorance of it by most in the Christian community and certainly, IMO, within the Catholic Church. While I'm not particularly interested in Catholic affairs, I respect Pope Benedict's intellect. That said and full disclosure, I can have a very convoluted sense a humor at times and see patterns were perhaps none exist.
As is often my breakfast habit, I was working on a Word Search puzzle and half-way listening to the bloviating about the pope’s departure. I heard a comment about his red shoes. I was not aware that the Pope wore red shoes as one of the symbols of his office. Now that Benedict will no longer be Pope he has to relinquish his red shoes.
Interestingly enough, one word hidden in the word puzzle was “lamb” so I thought of the comparison between the Lamb of God and the regalia of the Pope. Rather than special red shoes and royal vestment, Jesus walked about in a pair of sandals and homespun. Rather than wearing red shoes, Jesus didn't consider himself above washing the feet of his disciples; a wonderful lesson for all.
So where else were red shoes of such importance? The Wizard of Oz came to mind. Like me, most of you have probably watched the Wizard of Oz any number of times. After Dorothy's house was flung by a tornado into Oz crushing an evil witch, Dorothy was presented with said witch's red shoes.
I started to make a mental inventory of the primary cast of characters in the story. There was sweet innocent Dorothy who was just trying to get back to Kansas. There was a scarecrow looking for a brain. There was the immobilized tin man looking for a heart. It was amazing how much a few drops of oil enabled him to move his joints. Even I can't stretch this far enough to compare the oil can to the sprinkling of holy water. Completing the trio of Dorothy's new friends was the lion looking for courage.
What does all of this have in common with the Catholic Church? Perhaps Dorothy could be compared to the millions of Catholics hoping to go home/ heaven and placing their reliance on church clergy. Accepting the gift of salvation through Jesus to me would be as simple as Dorothy clicking her red shoes together. Given the history of the Catholic Church, popes such as Innocence the third could certainly have used a heart as did the tin man. Like the lion in the Wizard of Oz, there is certainly no comparison between the Catholic Church and the coming Lion of Judah. As for the scarecrow wanting a brain, I would again compare this to those who don't seem to be able to think for themselves.
So much more I could add, the Prophecy of the last pope...
First, I would like to commend you for your blog, as witness to Christ is needed more and more in these times of depravity and falsehood. I came across your other blog and curiously happened on this site. I am impressed at your understanding of complex and hidden truths of this world, and I can see that God has given you the gift of Wisdom for seeking him with all your heart. Most people are so blinded by the overwhelming presence of evil that is normalized that they cannot see what was common sense to even the simplest of people until a few generations ago. Of Course, the corruption has been brewing since the beginning of the World, and Satan has never rested since then. He came into full power in the West after the French Revolution, when the Catholic Church was overthrown and secularism slowly but surely firmly entrenched in the minds of the masses. Of course, the French Revolution could have only happened because of the opportune environment created by the Protestant Reformation and the dividing of Christendom. The Protestant Reformation was intended as a reformation of the Church's corruption in the Renaissance but ended up dividing from Christ's church. The Church did have many of its members including a few popes during this era who led less than exemplary lives as they were overcome with the worldliness in general society that became prevalent during the Reformation Era. There were many bad practices that needed to be corrected but not one doctrine was altered during this time by even the most corrupt Popes. God has promised his Church that the Holy Spirit will protect it from falling into teaching error until the end of the Age. Christ gave the Authority to bind and loose to St. Peter who was the first pope and from whom all further popes trace their lineage through Apostolic Succession. This does not mean that the Popes are Apostles it means that that the laying of hands have continued uninterrupted since the time of the Apostles.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about the Malachi predictions but I am not knowledgeable enough about them to give an opinion. I will say that I believe strongly that the Catholic Church is the body of Christ on Earth and his intention to continue his mission on Earth. The canon of the Bible was only slowly established through the centuries by the authority of the Catholic Church. Catholic teaching is completely in line with the Bible and with the Early Church Fathers. There are numerous high level theologians and protestant ministers who have converted to Catholicism after years of study and against all family wishes. The problem is the Catholic Church satisfies all human spiritual longing but is complex and nuanced. On the surface many beliefs may appear superstitious and many things are so hard to explain because of the depth of theology behind it. All heresies are simplifications and are thus easier to believe. It is easier to defend a unified God than explain the Trinity. It is easier to defend a religion that has less doctrines than one that has doctrines that have been allowed to develop through the centuries. Develop as in grow in understanding not adding anything new to the original deposit of Christ.
You are wise to recognize Pope Benedict as intelligent, I would agree with Father James Schall when he was on the throne that he was the greatest intellect on the public stage. His writings betray a familiarity with a vast arena of philosophy, theology, and ancillary fields. His insight is penetrating and his commitment to orthodoxy shows his love of truth to the finest of details.
ReplyDeleteThe red shoes that were so easily discarded by his successor only betrays the differing priorities of the two popes. The red symbolizes the blood of martyrs. The cardinals as "princes of the Church" wear red to symbolize that they should be ready to shed blood and die for the faith. Every thing has meaning that is divine not human and worldly in origin. This is all lost to a egalitarian and democratic world (two values from the French Revolution) that prizes equality over truth and ease over formality.
Catholicism is true but that does not mean that the Church cannot be corrupted. The church has been the number one enemy of all the powers of the World since the beginning of its existence. Satan hates nothing more than the Catholic Church and exorcists have repeatedly found that their prayers are more powerful in Latin, the official language of the Church. The Church is holy means that what it teaches is perfectly in line with the wishes of Christ and is the purest of morality. This does not mean that there are not members in the Church including clergy and bishops that may not be working for the other side. Satan tempts everyone and priests more than anyone else. There has also been a active attempt to infiltrate the Catholic Church by varying groups that are ultimately Satanic in nature including the Masons and Communists. Read about Bella Dowd (look her up on wikipedia) about how communists successfully infiltrated the Church. The homosexuals also infiltrated the Church on some level which led to the pedophilia crisis and the further vilification of the Church. The wheat and chaff are together till the end of time but the infiltration of the Church at such a level and the signs of the times may signify the end of the Age. This is not my position to tell and God will never abandon his Church but he may allow it to undergo persecution and division.
An article in Christian Order magazine (November 2000) recounts how Dodd and her associate, Douglas Hyde, revealed the plan for communist subversion of the Church:
Ex-Communist and celebrated convert Douglas Hyde revealed long ago that in the 1930s the Communist leadership issued a worldwide directive about infiltrating the Catholic Church. While in the early 1950s, Mrs. Bella Dodd was also providing detailed explanations of the Communist subversion of the Church. Speaking as a former high ranking official of the American Communist Party, Mrs. Dodd said: "In the 1930s we put eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within." The idea was for these men to be ordained and progress to positions of influence and authority as Monsignors and Bishops. A dozen years before Vatican II she stated that: "Right now they are in the highest places in the Church" — where they were working to bring about change in order to weaken the Church's effectiveness against Communism. She also said that these changes would be so drastic that "you will not recognise the Catholic Church."
ReplyDelete“There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
― Fulton J. Sheen
But should you meet with a person not yet believing the gospel, how would you reply to him were he to say, I do not believe? For my part, I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church. So when those on whose authority I have consented to believe in the gospel tell me not to believe in Manichæus, how can I but consent? Take your choice. If you say, Believe the Catholics: their advice to me is to put no faith in you; so that, believing them, I am precluded from believing you—If you say, Do not believe the Catholics: you cannot fairly use the gospel in bringing me to faith in Manichæus; for it was at the command of the Catholics that I believed the gospel. -St. Augustine (354-430AD)
http://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/sola.htm