The Thin Line Between Mercy & Heresy – Part I

 


IN
all the controversies that unfolded in the wake of the recent Synod in Rome, the reason for the gathering seemed to have been lost altogether. It was convened under the theme: “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” How do we evangelize families given the pastoral challenges we face due to high divorce rates, single mothers, secularization, and so forth?

What we learned very quickly (as proposals of some Cardinals were made known to the public) is that there is a a thin line between mercy and heresy.

The following three part series is intended to not only get back to the heart of the matter—evangelizing families in our times—but to do so by bringing to the forefront the man who is really at the center of the controversies: Jesus Christ. Because no one walked that thin line more than Him—and Pope Francis seems to be pointing that path to us once again.

We need to blow away the “smoke of satan” so we can clearly identify this narrow red line, drawn in Christ’s blood… because we are called to walk it ourselves.

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The Spirit of Trust

 

SO much has been said this past week on the spirit of fear that has been flooding many souls. I have been blessed that so many of you have entrusted your own vulnerability to me as you have been trying to sift through the confusion that has become a staple of the times. But to assume that what is called confusion is immediately, therefore, “from the evil one” would be incorrect. Because in the life of Jesus, we know that so often his followers, the teachers of the law, the Apostles, and even Mary were left confused as to the meaning and actions of the Lord.

And out of all of these followers, two responses stand out that are like two pillars rising on the sea of turmoil. If we begin to imitate these examples, we can affix ourselves to both of these pillars, and be drawn into the internal calm that is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

It is my prayer that your faith in Jesus will be renewed in this meditation…

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The Spirit of Suspicion


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ONCE again, the Mass readings today are blowing over my soul like a trumpet blast. In the Gospel, Jesus warns His listeners to pay attention to the signs of the times

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The Persecution From Within

 

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WHEN I changed the format of my writings last week, there was no intention on my part to cease commenting on the Mass readings. In fact, as I told subscribers to the Now Word, I believe the Lord asked me to begin writing meditations on the Mass readings precisely because He is speaking to us through them, as prophecy now seems to be unfolding in real time. During the week of the Synod, it was incredible to read how, at the very same time that some Cardinals were proposing heresies as pastoral initiatives, St. Paul was affirming his absolute commitment to the Revelation of Christ in Tradition.

There are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! (Gal 1:7-8)

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Can a Pope Become a Heretic?

APTOPIX VATICAN PALM SUNDAY

 

by Rev. Joseph L. Iannuzzi, STD, Ph.D.

 

IN recent months the Roman Pontiff’s teaching authority has been openly challenged and his supreme, full and immediate authority questioned. Particular exception has been taken to his non ex cathedra pronouncements in light of modern “prophecies.” The following article by Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi asks the question increasingly being asked by others: Can a Pope Become a Heretic?

 

Steady as She Goes

 

 

 

I have spent the day mostly in prayer, listening, speaking with my spiritual director, praying, going to Mass, listening some more… and these are the thoughts and words which have been coming to me since I wrote The Synod and the Spirit.

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The Synod and the Spirit

 

 

AS I wrote in my daily Mass meditation today (see here), there is a certain panic in some quarters of the Church on the heels of the Synod’s somewhat abstract post discussion report (relatio post disceptationem). People are asking, “What are the bishops doing in Rome? What is the Pope doing?” But the real question is what is the Holy Spirit doing? For the Spirit is the one Jesus sent to “teach you all truth.” [1]John 16:13 The Spirit is our advocate, our help, our consoler, our strength, our wisdom… but also the one who convicts, enlightens, and exposes our hearts so that we have the opportunity to always move deeper toward the truth that sets us free.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 John 16:13

Important Changes

 

 

BROTHERS and sisters, things are beginning to move very fast in the world with events, one on top of the other… like the winds of a hurricane nearest the eye of the Storm. [1]cf. The Seven Seals of Revolution This is what the Lord showed me would happen several years ago. But who of us can prepare for these things outside of God’s grace?

As such, I have been inundated with emails, texts, phone calls…. and I can’t keep up. Furthermore, I sense the Lord is calling me to more prayer and listening. I feel I am not keeping up with what He wants me to say! Something has to give…

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Footnotes

We are God's Possession

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 16th, 2014
Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch

Liturgical texts here

 


from Brian Jekel’s Consider the Sparrows

 

 

‘WHAT is the Pope doing? What are the bishops doing?” Many are asking these questions on the heels of confusing language and abstract statements emerging from the Synod on Family Life. But the question on my heart today is what is the Holy Spirit doing? Because Jesus sent the Spirit to guide the Church to “all truth.” [1]John 16:13 Either Christ’s promise is trustworthy or it’s not. So what is the Holy Spirit doing? I will write more about this in another writing.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 John 16:13

Without a Vision

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 16th, 2014
Opt. Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Liturgical texts here

 

 

 

THE confusion we are seeing envelop Rome today in the wake of the Synod document released to the public is, really, no surprise. Modernism, liberalism, and homosexuality were rampant in seminaries at the time many of these bishops and cardinals attended them. It was a time when the Scriptures where de-mystified, dismantled, and stripped of their power; a time when the Liturgy was being turned into a celebration of the community rather than Christ’s Sacrifice; when theologians ceased studying on their knees; when churches were being stripped of icons and statues; when confessionals were being turned into broom closets; when the Tabernacle was being shuffled off into corners; when catechesis virtually dried up; when abortion became legalized; when priests were abusing children; when the sexual revolution turned nearly everyone against Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae; when no-fault divorce was implemented… when the family began to fall apart.

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Sin that Keeps us from the Kingdom

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 15th, 2014
Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Liturgical texts here

 

 

 

Genuine freedom is an outstanding manifestation of the divine image in man. —SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Veritatis Splendor, n. 34

 

TODAY, Paul moves from explaining how Christ has set us free for freedom, to being specific as to those sins that lead us, not only into slavery, but even eternal separation from God: immorality, impurity, drinking bouts, envy, etc.

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (First reading)

How popular was Paul for saying these things? Paul didn’t care. As he said himself earlier in his letter to the Galatians:

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The Inside Must Match the Outside

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 14th, 2014
Opt. Memorial of St. Callistus I, Pope and Martyr

Liturgical texs here

 

 

IT is often said that Jesus was tolerant towards “sinners” but intolerant of the Pharisees. But this isn’t quite true. Jesus often rebuked the Apostles as well, and in fact in yesterday’s Gospel, it was the entire crowd to whom He was very blunt, warning that they would be shown less mercy than the Ninevites:

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For Freedom

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 13th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

ONE of the reasons I felt the Lord wanted me to write the “Now Word” on the Mass readings at this time, was precisely because there is a now word in the readings that is speaking directly to what is happening in the Church and the world. The readings of the Mass are arranged in three year cycles, and so are different each year. Personally, I think it is a “sign of the times” how this year’s readings are lining up with our times…. Just saying.

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Trumpets of Warning! — Part I


LadyJustice_Fotor

 

 

This was among the first words or “trumpets” that I felt the Lord wanted me to blow, beginning in 2006. Many words were coming to me in prayer this morning that, when I went back and re-read this below, made more sense than ever in light of what is happening with Rome, Islam, and everything else in this present Storm. The veil is lifting, and the Lord is revealing to us more and more the times we are in. Don’t be afraid then, because God is with us, shepherding us in the “valley of the shadow of death.” For as Jesus said, “I will be with you until the end…” This writing forms the backdrop for my meditation on the Synod, which my spiritual director has asked me to write.

First published on August 23rd, 2006:

 

I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. (Jer 4:19)

 

I can no longer hold in the “word” which has been welling up within me for a week. The weight of it has moved me to tears several times. However, the readings from the Mass this morning were a powerful confirmation — “a go ahead”, so to speak.
 

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A House Divided

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 10th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

“EVERY kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.” These are Christ’s words in today’s Gospel that must surely reverberate among the Synod of Bishops gathered in Rome. As we listen to the presentations coming forth on how to deal with today’s moral challenges facing families, it is clear that there are great gulfs between some prelates as to how to deal with sin. My spiritual director has asked me to speak about this, and so I will in another writing. But perhaps we should conclude this week’s meditations on the infallibility of the papacy by listening carefully to Our Lord’s words today.

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Who Has Bewitched You?

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 9th, 2014
Opt. Memorial of St. Denis and Companions, Martyrs

Liturgical texts here

 

 

“O stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you…?”

These are the opening words of today’s first reading. And I wonder if St. Paul would repeat them to us as well were he in our midst. For even though Jesus has promised to build His Church on rock, many are convinced today that it’s really just sand. I have received a few letters that essentially say, okay, I hear what you’re saying about the Pope, but I’m still afraid he is saying one thing and doing another. Yes, there is a persistent fear among the ranks that this Pope is going to lead us all into apostasy.

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Can the Pope Betray Us?

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 8th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

The subject matter of this meditation is so important, that I am sending this to both my daily readers of the Now Word, and those who are on the Spiritual Food for Thought mailing list. If you receive duplicates, that’s why. Because of today’s subject, this writing is a bit longer than usual for my daily readers… but I believe necessary.

 

I couldn’t sleep last night. I woke up in what the Romans would call the “fourth watch”, that period of time before dawn. I began to think about all the emails I’m receiving, the rumors I’m hearing, the doubts and confusion that are creeping in… like wolves on the edge of the forest. Yes, I heard the warnings clearly in my heart shortly after Pope Benedict resigned, that we were going to enter into times of great confusion. And now, I feel a bit like a shepherd, tension in my back and arms, my staff raised as shadows move about this precious flock that God has entrusted me to feed with “spiritual food.” I feel protective today.

The wolves are here.

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The Two Parts

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 7th, 2014
Our Lady of the Rosary

Liturgical texts here


Jesus with Martha and Mary from Anton Laurids Johannes Dorph (1831-1914)

 

 

THERE is no such thing as a Christian without the Church. But there is no Church without authentic Christians…

Today, St. Paul continues to give his testimony of how he was given the Gospel, not by man, but by a “revelation of Jesus Christ.” [1]Yesterday’s first reading Yet, Paul is not a lone ranger; he brings himself and his message into and under the authority that Jesus conferred upon the Church, beginning with the “rock”, Cephas, the first pope:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Yesterday’s first reading

The Two Guardrails

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 6th, 2014
Opt. Memorial for St. Bruno and Blessed Marie Rose Durocher

Liturgical texts here


Photo by Les Cunliffe

 

 

THE readings today could not be more timely for the opening sessions of the Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family. For they provide the two guardrails along the “constricted road that leads to life” [1]cf. Matt 7:14 that the Church, and all us as individuals, must travel.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. Matt 7:14

The Coming “Lord of the Flies” Moment


Scene from “Lord of the Flies”, Nelson Entertainment

 

IT is perhaps one of the most augury and revealing movies in recent times. The Lord of the Flies (1989) is the story of a group of boys who are the survivors of a shipwreck. As they settle in to their island surroundings, power struggles ensue until the boys devolve into essentially a totalitarian state where the powerful control the weak—and eliminate the elements that don’t “fit in.” It is, in fact, a parable of what has happened over and over again in the history of mankind, and is repeating itself again today before our very eyes as the nations reject the vision of the Gospel put forth by the Church.

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On Angel’s Wings

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 2nd, 2014
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels,

Liturgical texts here

 

IT is remarkable to think that, this very moment, beside me, is an angelic being who is not only ministering to me, but beholding the face of the Father at the same time:

Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven… See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. (Today’s Gospel)

Few, I think, really pay attention to this angelic guardian assigned to them, let alone converse with them. But many of the saints such as Henry, Veronica, Gemma and Pio regularly spoke with and saw their angels. I shared a story with you how I was awakened one morning to an interior voice that, I seemed to know intuitively, was my guardian angel (read Speak Lord, I am Listening). And then there is that stranger who appeared that one Christmas (read A True Christmas Tale).

There was one other time that stands out to me as an inexplicable example of the angel’s presence among us…

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