Friday, July 24, 2015

Unbelief/rejection of their Faith was the cause of the chastisement of the Jews

Posted by Tantumblogo  July 22, 2015


Dom Prosper Gueranger spends a number of pages of his meditations on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost in The Liturgical Year recounting the final chastisement and destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Old Covenant.  Just as Jesus Christ our Lord had prophesied, Jerusalem was completely, utterly destroyed by Roman legions under Titus Flavius Vespasianus.  This was after several previous chastisements, most notably the first destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile.
Why was Israel, God’s original chosen people, so chastised?  The Bible – and Gueranger – tells us, it was due to constant sin and rejection of the True Faith God had given Israel. Eventually Israel’s crimes became so great that God completely terminated His covenant with them and instituted the New Covenant in Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity.
But as Gueranger warns us, the same fate can befall us, and even almost the entire human element of the Church, if we are similarly unfaithful. Entire nations have been condemned by God to destruction for rejecting His Law and the practice of perversion. A grim reminder for we of the Church – and her leaders – in this time:
[N]ever forget that the same causes which brought about the destruction of the Jews would also lead you to ruin.  They fell, because of their unbelief; you, who once had no faith and yet God showed mercy to you, are now what you are by faith.  Be not, therefore, high-minded with self-complacency; but remember how God, who broke off the natural branches from the glorious tree, will not spare  you, if you cease to be faithful; and whilst you do well to admire His mercy, you do not wisely if you forget His inexorable justice………..
……..But the assurance of salvation, granted to the bride of the Son of God, does not extend to her children, taken either individually or collectively –  that is, men or nations. On each one of us it is incumbent that we meditate on the sad fate which befell Jerusalem; as also on what happened ages before, to the ancestors of the Jewish people, viz., that scarce one of those who were living when Moses led them out of Egypt lived to enter into the promised land.
————-End Quote————
Indeed, of 600,000 adult Jewish men who left Egypt in the Exodus, preciselyTWO survived to enter the promised land. Now the Exodus from Egypt and journey to the promised land of Israel is a highly significant type of our earthly journey through the dangers and temptations of the world and our hoped for entry into Heaven. While Christ’s crucifixion, death, and Resurrection has greatly changed the calculus in our favor, it hasn’t entirely altered the validity of this type.  Something to be kept in mind.
As is the testimony of so very many Saints and holy people, who attest from visions or even personal experience that even the vast majority of baptized Catholics go to hell.  Completely contradicting Fr. Barron and other modernist “hopes,” the constant testimony of the Saints has been that many more are lost than are saved.
The unprecedented and terrifying situation faithful souls face today, of course, is that so much of the Church herself seems to be in the very predicament Dom Prosper warns about.  Unprecedented in modern times, and having only a few possible similar instances throughout its 2000 year history, this crisis leaves many souls lost and confused over where to turn, what to believe.  Fortunately we do have Tradition, the Magisterium of the past, to turn to.  The Church can never become something she is not, she can never validly counter her own established Sacred Doctrine, so as long as we cling to that, we can be assured of remaining faithful – in spite of what men today may say.  It should be remembered that when the Jews faltered, there were faithful remnants then, too, and they were likewise chastised as not being with the times, as being unreasonably obstinate, and refusing to go along with what the great mass of people wanted.  A good number of prophets were put to death for their defense of the Faith as it was.
Men cannot change what God has revealed.  Men cannot pretend to take flatly contradictory “pastoral approaches” to matters in ways that obliterate settled Dogma and remain faithful.  No we cannot, and do not want to, become protestant and pick and choose for ourselves what to believe and what to reject.  But that is not the point.  The point is to cling to that which has been clearly revealed and defined in the long course of centuries.
And that’s the very difficult part in a hierarchical Church.  In those rare and terrible times when the hierarchy itself seems to be turning on the Church, it is exceedingly difficult to remain a faithful Catholic.  I pray for the strength to remain so.
https://veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2015/07/22/unbeliefrejection-of-their-faith-was-the-cause-of-the-chastisement-of-the-jews/

Fr. Robert Barron means Pope Benedict XVI also denies the dogma and Vatican Council II (AG 7, LG 14).

How Many Are Saved?
By Father Robert Barron
Dr. Ralph Martin, Professor of Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, has written an important book titled “Will Many Be Saved?”
Lionel:
Dr.Ralph Martin and Fr.Robert Barron are not aware that the Letter of the Holy Office 1949 was a break with the past. It was a break with the centuries- old  dogmatic teaching on salvation.
Secondly, they both do not personally know of any exception today to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. So in 2015 there is no change in Church-teaching.Where are the exceptions ? There are none!
 Neither does any magisterial document before 1949 ( Council of Trent, Mystici Corporis etc) claim there are exceptions to the dogma.They only mention cases of the baptism of desire and being saved in invincible ignorance. It has to be inferred that these cases are personally known and so are exceptions to the dogma on salvation. This is the wrong inference  made by Fr.Barron and Ralph Martin.
 The text received a good deal of attention at the recent synod on the New Evangelization, and its opening pages are filled with endorsements from some of the leading figures in the Church today. Dr. Martin’s argument is straightforward enough: the attitude, much in evidence in the years following Vatican II, that virtually everyone will go to heaven has drastically undercut the Church’s evangelical efforts. Why then, if salvation is guaranteed to virtually everyone, would Catholics be filled with a passion to propagate the faith around the world with any urgency? Therefore, if the New Evangelization is to get off the ground, we have to recover a vivid sense of the reality of Hell, the possibility, even likelihood, of eternal damnation for the many who do not come to a lively faith in Christ.
Martin certainly has some theological heavyweights on his side. Both St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas believed that the majority of human beings end up in Hell.
Lionel:
 So does Vatican Council II. Ad Gentes 7 says all need faith and baptism for salvation. Most people die without faith and baptism.The majority of human beings end up in Hell according to Vatican Council II and the dogma on exclusive salvation in the Catholic Church.
The dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus was defined by three Church Councils.It has the same message as Vatican Council II.
 And the official magisterium of the church has insisted on a number of occasions that missionary work is vital, lest millions wander down the wide path that leads to perdition. Moreover, these theological and magisterial positions are themselves grounded in the witness of Scripture. No one in the Bible speaks of Hell more often than Jesus himself. To give just a few examples, in Mark 16, the Lord says, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” And in John 5, he declares, “The hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.” And in a number of his parables – most notably the story of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25 – Jesus stresses the desperate urgency of the choice that his followers must make.

To be sure, the conviction that Hell is a crowded place has been contested from the earliest days of the Church, and Martin fully acknowledges this. Origen, St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Maximus the Confessor all held to some form of universalism, that is to say, the belief that, at the end of the day, all people would be gathered to the Lord. And this view was revived during the era of exploration, when it became clear to European Christians that millions upon millions of people in Africa, Asia and the Americas would certainly be condemned if explicit faith in Christ was truly requisite for salvation.
Lionel:
This was a dogmatic teaching. This was the belief of St. Francis Xavier, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Teresa of Avila, St.Maximillian Kolbe...
The universalist perspective received a further boost in the 20th century, especially through the work of two of the most influential Catholic thinkers of the time, Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Rahner held that every human being is endowed with what he termed a “supernatural existential,” which is to say, a fundamental orientation toward God.
Lionel:
Rahner and Balthasar also accepted the Letter of the Holy Office 1949. The Letter made a factual error.How can being saved in invincible ignorance and the baptism of desire be exceptions to the dogma when these cases are in Heaven? How can people who are dead be explicit on earth? It is a fact of life that we personally cannot and do not know any such case. So there is no known salvation outside the Catholic Church. All need 'faith and baptism'(AG 7) to avoid  Hell.
 This spiritual potentiality is fully realized through explicit faith in Christ, but it can be realized to varying degrees even in those non-Christians who follow their consciences sincerely.
Lionel:
 We do not and cannot know of any such case in the present times (2015). This was Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani's wrong premise and inference in 1949 in the Boston Case.
 The supernatural existential makes of everyone – to use Rahner’s controversial phrase – an “anonymous Christian” and provides the basis for hoping that universal salvation is possible. Basing his argument on the sheer extravagance of God’s saving act in Christ, Balthasar taught as well that we may reasonably hope that all people will be brought to heaven. A good part of Balthasar’s argument is grounded in the Church’s liturgy, which demands that we pray for the salvation of all. If we knew that Hell was indeed a crowded place, this type of prayer would be senseless.
Lionel:
A good part of Balthasar and Rahner's arguement could be grounded in the Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani factual error.
Now the heart of Martin’s book is a detailed study and critique of the theories of Rahner and Balthasar, and space prevents me from even sketching his complex argument.
Lionel:
Ralph Martin overlooks Marchetti's error.
 I will mention only one dimension of it, namely his analysis of Lumen Gentium paragraph 16. Both Balthasar and Rahner – as well as their myriad disciples – found justification in the first part of that paragraph, wherein the Vatican II fathers do indeed teach that non-Christians, even non-believers, can be saved as long as they “try in their actions to do God’s will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience.”
Lionel:
These are theoretical cases. Hypothetical references. Fr.Barron assumes these are defacto, objective cases in the present times.Otherwise how would he know who they are ? And how could they be exceptions to the dogma and Vatican Council II (AG 7) if he did not know who they are personally.
 So for him LG 16 would be an exception to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. This is irrational.Zero cases of something cannot be exceptions to the dogma says John Martignoni, the apologist.
 However, Martin points out that the defenders of universal salvation have, almost without exception, overlooked the next section of that paragraph, in which the Council Fathers say these decidedly less comforting words: “But very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the world rather than the Creator…Hence to procure…the salvation of all these, the Church…takes zealous care to foster the missions.” A fair reading of the entire paragraph, therefore, would seem to yield the following: the unevangelized can be saved, but often (at saepius), they do not meet the requirements for salvation. They will, then, be damned without hearing the announcement of the Gospel and coming to an active faith.
Lionel:
Immagine correlata
He is writing all this oblivious of the dogma.It was possibly not part of his religious formation. Since it was also ignored by Pope Benedict XVI.
So who has it right in regard to this absolutely crucial question? Even as I deeply appreciate Martin’s scholarship and fully acknowledge that he scores important points against both Balthasar and Rahner, I found his central argument undermined by one of his own footnotes. In a note buried on page 284 of his text, Martin cites some “remarks” of Pope Benedict XVI that have contributed, in his judgment, to confusion on the point in question. He is referring to observations in sections 45-47 of the Pope’s 2007 encyclical "Spe Salvi," which can be summarized as follows: There are a relative handful of truly wicked people in whom the love of God and neighbor has been totally extinguished through sin, and there are a relative handful of people whose lives are utterly pure, completely given over to the demands of love. Those latter few will proceed, upon death, directly to heaven, and those former few will, upon death, enter the state that the Church calls Hell. But the Pope concludes that “the great majority of people” who, though sinners, still retain a fundamental ordering to God, can and will be brought to heaven after the necessary purification of Purgatory.
Lionel:
 He means Pope Benedict XVI also denies the dogma and Vatican Council II (AG 7, LG 14).
 Martin knows that the Pope stands athwart the position that he has taken throughout his study, for he says casually enough, “The argument of this book would suggest a need for clarification.”

Obviously, there is no easy answer to the question of who or how many will be saved, but one of the most theologically accomplished popes in history, writing at a very high level of authority, has declared that we oughtn't to hold that Hell is densely populated.
Lionel:
Since he ignores the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus. He also interprets Vatican Council II (LG 16) etc with Marchetti's premise and inference.In other words they refer to explicit cases in the present times. They would have to be explicit to be relevant.Like Marchetti he did not realize that these cases, if they exist, would only be known to God. They would be invisible for us.
 To write this off as “remarks” that require “clarification” is precisely analogous to a liberal theologian saying the same thing about Paul VI’s teaching on artificial contraception in the encyclical "Humanae Vitae." It seems to me that Pope Benedict’s position – affirming the reality of Hell but seriously questioning whether that the vast majority of human beings end up there – is the most tenable and actually the most evangelically promising.
Lionel:
There is no known salvation outside the Church. So there are no known exceptions to the dogmatic teaching. supported by Vatican Council II.So Fr.Barron is irrational,heretical,  non traditional and wrong. 
 http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column/how-many-are-saved-2383/

IHM schools teaching error 

http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2015/07/ihm-schools-teaching-error.html



Encyclopedia for kids has leftist propaganda on Fr.Leonard Feeney

http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2015/07/encyclopedia-for-kids-has-leftist.html


Il Cielo costringe satana a parlare

Il 21 febbraio 1984, durante un esorcismo, padre Heinrich Kreuzer interroga il demonio, imponendogli di rispondere in nome della Santissima Trinità. Le risposte raccolte formano un insolito “catechismo” per i nostri tempi. 

Esorcista: In nome della Santissima Trinità, del Padre, del Figlio e dello Spirito Santo, in nome di Maria, l’Immacolata Concezione, di’ ciò che Dio ti impone di dire; solo la verità, su tutto il resto taci!
Demonio: Io parlo solo quando l’Altissimo o Quella [si riferisce alla Madonna] lo vogliono e mi costringono a questo. Se dipendesse da me, io non parlerei. Noi non vorremmo mai parlare, non avremmo mai voluto dire tutto ciò che l’ossessa ha dovuto dire. Noi vorremmo tacere... [Grida]. Ma sono costretto a farlo e questo è per me una tremenda umiliazione. È spaventoso dover dire cose che servono alla vostra salvezza.
Esorcista: Di’ ciò che il Cielo ti comanda di dire.
Demonio: Il Cielo vuole che in questo tempo finale vengano invocati gli Angeli. In questo tempo spaventoso in cui l’Anticristo è già all’opera, anche se non ancora apertamente, è una grave trascuratezza non cercare l’aiuto degli Angeli: può portarvi all’eterna rovina. Questa è una verità che io odio e mi tormenta il dovervela dire, perché reca danno a noi dell’inferno, ma sono stato costretto a dirvela dall’Altissimo e da Quella... [Grida come un pazzo]. Non voglio parlare!
Gli Angeli possono fare da contrappeso all’inferno, possono neutralizzare le insidie che noi vi tendiamo e il male che cerchiamo di farvi. L’Altissimo ha affidato agli Angeli tutti gli uomini e tutto l’Universo. Per la loro grandezza, maestà e potenza nessun’altra creatura è paragonabile a loro. Gli Angeli sono in Cielo e anche sulla terra, ma la loro azione a vostro vantaggio resta inefficace se voi non li invocate e se non ponete in essi la vostra fiducia. Esiste un’armonia meravigliosa in questo mondo angelico che noi assolutamente non vorremmo manifestare: tutto è armonia e grazia che solo l’Altissimo [guarda all’insù] poteva concepire e donare a voi per venirvi in aiuto.
Io, Belzebub, sono costretto dall’Altissimo a dirvi questo, anche se non vorrei. Sono costretto a dirvi come sono gli Angeli perché ho visto il loro regno e conosco la loro maestà. Avrei preferito non vedere tutto questo, perché il ricordo della loro gloria mi brucia e mi brucerà per sempre. Anch’io avrei potuto essere come loro, ma non ho voluto piegarmi ai disegni dell’Altissimo, non l’ho voluto servire. No, io non lo servo, non lo voglio servire e per questo dovrò espiare per tutta l’eternità! [urla]. Io non vorrei parlare, ma devo!

Immagine correlataMoltissime grazie vanno perdute per l’umanità perché non prega gli Angeli e in particolare gli Angeli custodi. Sono moltissimi quelli che non pregano nemmeno una volta all’anno il loro Angelo Custode, mentre egli sta loro vicino, li serve continuamente e con sollecitudine porta loro aiuto giorno e notte. Gli Angeli sono spiriti fedelissimi, santi, puri. Nessuna madre, tranne Lei [la Madonna], è così premurosa con le sue creature quanto l’Angelo lo è con voi. È disastroso non accogliere tali grazie e non pregare questi puri spiriti potenti e servizievoli. Ed è disastroso per voi che si parli tanto poco del loro aiuto.
foto di Catholic Modesty.

Esorcista: Parla in nome…
Demonio: Io sono il secondo in altezza [cioè in dignità] e mi trovai d’accordo con la scelta di Lucifero; per questo fui espulso violentemente dalla beatitudine del Regno dei Cieli e fui precipitato nell’oscuro regno dell’inferno. Mille e mille volte al giorno io vorrei recitare le parole degli Angeli, se questo mi fosse possibile e fosse utile. Ma ormai non posso più e anche se potessi non mi servirebbe a niente. Io sono dannato, perduto per l’eternità, perduto per sempre! Purtroppo, per mia sofferenza, per mia umiliazione, oggi devo dirvi ancora una parola su ciò che voi uomini avete dimenticato. Proprio in questo vostro tempo, il tempo non della giusta valutazione, ma dell’esaltazione del corpo, ogni pretesto vi appare buono per peccare contro il pudore e la purezza. Anche lo sport vi aiuta in questo. Pensate alle pattinatrici o alle atlete di altri sport: pur di avere più possibilità di vittoria si svestono in maniera esagerata. Ma la ragione vera è un’altra: non è per conseguire più facilmente la vittoria che si spogliano in quel modo, ma per una questione di vanità.

Quante donne oggi, per la superbia della carne, mostrano in maniera provocante il loro corpo! Senza pudore! Senza disagio! Con la più grande naturalezza, fingendo di non rendersi conto che stanno provocando scandalo a tante persone e favorendo così la propria e l’altrui rovina eterna. Quanti e quanti uomini, infatti, e quanti e quanti bambini sono portati a guardarle con malizia! Guai a chi pecca e fa peccare in questo modo! Sono costretto a dire che una donna che non è vestita correttamente talvolta pecca senza esserne pienamente consapevole, ma non per questo è senza colpa, perché genitori, sacerdoti ed educatori almeno qualche volta le hanno parlato del pudore e, se anche non fosse stata educata in questo senso, glielo grida la sua coscienza che un certo abbigliamento diventa provocazione e tentazione per chi la vede così poco vestita. E così, quando si ostina ad ignorare questo, induce molti uomini e molti bambini e giovani a pensieri peccaminosi, li rende facilmente vittime della passione della carne e li porta a peccare gravemente. L’Alta [parla della Madonna] a Fatima ha raccomandato: «Vestitevi decentemente e imparate da Me». Ma ora basta, non voglio parlare!

Quante donne di oggi creano danni irreparabili nelle anime di molte altre persone, per cui, se pentendosi in tempo riusciranno a salvarsi, in Purgatorio dovranno pagare amaramente questo loro peccato: bruceranno in tutte quelle parti del loro corpo che hanno spudoratamente scoperto. I loro torbidi pensieri di oggi e il loro insano e ostinato desiderio di apparire o di provocare daranno vita per loro a un’atroce tortura. Se poi non si convertiranno, bruceranno per sempre all’inferno. La loro pelle si staccherà a brandelli e cadrà. Allora saranno davvero carne nuda, carne sanguinante, se non si saranno pentite, amaramente pentite, finché erano in tempo, se non avranno espiato per quanto hanno rovinato in altre anime.
Demonio: Tu mi costringi a parlare della tragedia che chiama in causa ogni uomo, obbligato a scegliere tra l’Altissimo e la sua Legge da una parte, e il rifiuto di Lui e della sua Legge dall’altra... tra la gloria eterna e la dannazione eterna. Io sono costretto a ripetere ciò che un santo sacerdote diceva nell’insegnamento della Dottrina ai suoi bambini: «Seguite sempre l’Altissimo in umiltà. Se sarete disprezzati, sopportate questo con umiltà e pazienza, ma fate soltanto ciò che vuole l’Altissimo e osservate sempre i suoi Comandamenti. Osservateli fino alla morte. Siate fedeli fino in fondo e l’Altissimo vi darà la corona della vita eterna» [grida piangendo]. Sono parole tremende, ma vere! Quasi nessuno però ci crede; la mentalità che oggi domina nel vostro mondo è all’opposto: quasi tutti cercano il successo, il potere, il piacere, la ricchezza. Si vuole essere onorati, ammirati. Soprattutto è idolatrata la bellezza. L’Altissimo non esercita più alcun fascino su di voi, ciò che vi affascina oggi è tutto ciò che si oppone a Lui. L’Altissimo vi appare come nemico della vostra gioia e della vostra libertà, gioia e libertà che vi illudete di trovare lontano da Lui e contro di Lui. È questo il grande inganno che siamo riusciti a seminare in tutto il mondo.
Demonio: Chi vive secondo la Legge dell’Altissimo non conta niente, è deriso, è calpestato, è disprezzato. Ma sono anche costretto a dirvi che un giorno si capovolgeranno le sorti: i gaudenti saranno colpiti dalla giustizia dell’Altissimo. Per questo, o uomini, pensate alla vostra fine; la vostra vita e i vostri piaceri passeranno molto più in fretta di quanto non pensiate. Chi invece in questa vita ha sofferto ed è stato umiliato per la sua fedeltà, conoscerà la gloria per la Vita eterna. Sembravano sconfitti, ma appariranno vincitori; sembravano pazzi, ma appariranno come i veri sapienti, perché hanno guardato all’esempio di Colui [si riferisce a Cristo] che li ha preceduti e sostenuti con la sua forza. Dopo una vita di dolori e di disprezzo, di vergogna e di fatica, di tenebre e di croci... raccoglieranno e per sempre la gioia meritata. Il pensiero della loro vittoria ci riempie di rabbia. Ma ora bastaaaaa... non voglio più parlare!
Chi ora è disprezzato per la sua fedeltà all’Altissimo splenderà di una bellezza impensabile, ma coloro che in vita si sono insuperbiti per la loro bellezza avranno un aspetto terrificante: essi per primi ne proveranno orrore. I loro volti, un tempo affascinanti e ammirati, diventeranno come il viso di un lebbroso; i loro corpi saranno torturati in eterno dai vermi dell’impurità e sarà pestifero l’odore che emaneranno per i loro peccati. Nulla più resterà della loro bellezza. Ogni dannato contribuirà a fare dell’inferno la “mostra degli orrori”. È difficile accettare di essere umiliati; ma io, Belzebub, sono costretto a dirvi: esercitatevi nell’umiltà, coltivate il pudore e osservate tutti i Comandamenti finché siete in tempo. Umiliatevi e lasciatevi umiliare dagli altri anche se non lo avete meritato. Piegate umilmente il capo, anche se siete nel giusto. Piegate il capo tranne nel caso che sia Dio a non volerlo.
Un sacerdote, ad esempio, deve presentare sempre chiaramente e completamente la Fede, disposto a combattere in difesa delle Verità tradite o taciute dai modernisti che si sono infiltrati nella Chiesa; deve parlare non solo della misericordia, ma anche della giustizia dell’Altissimo; deve parlare del Premio eterno e del castigo eterno; deve parlare degli Angeli e anche di noi, angeli ribelli e dannati; deve parlare del peccato e non tacere, come molti fanno in questo tempo. Naturalmente anche un laico non deve mai piegare il capo quando è in gioco la verità; se poi per questa sua fedeltà incontrerà grandi lotte e penose opposizioni... preghi e si sacrifichi per le persone incredule che lo fanno soffrire.
Oggi non pochi sacerdoti cattolici si sono smarriti, non sanno più da che parte andare e questo perché, più che restare radicati nella loro Fede, si sono lasciati condizionare dalle varie opinioni del momento. Ci sono oggi troppi sacerdoti superbi nello spirito, non fedeli alla Verità; per questo nel mondo e nella Chiesa c’è una così grande oscurità e così tanta miseria ed è per questo che i cattolici, che sono veramente tali, e i sacerdoti fedeli soffrono molto: vengono messi da parte come valessero nulla, o addirittura sono trattati come persone squilibrate, o come persone che hanno abbandonato la retta via. Ma questo è il pensiero degli uomini, non dell’Altissimo.
Sono costretto a dirvi: restate fedeli alla verità del Vangelo, sostenete e difendete ciò che è vero e ciò che è buono, anche se verrete calpestati come foste gramigna inutile e dannosa; un giorno avrete gioia e gloria per questa vostra sofferta fedeltà! Verrà il giorno in cui questa “gramigna” calpestata e considerata inutile e dannosa verdeggerà e fiorirà. Poveri quei cristiani e quei sacerdoti che per aver abbandonato la via della Verità sono diventati ciechi! Ma voi perseverate, rimanete fedeli. Verrà la fine, più presto di quanto crediate. Non voglio dire nient’altro!
Demonio: è tanto breve la vostra vita sulla terra! Brevi sono le gioie del peccato e interminabile, eterna è la condanna. Così pure breve è il tempo delle croci, anche se sembra interminabile, mentre eterno sarà il premio a voi concesso per la vostra fedeltà. Quanto poco valgono le gioie del peccato che potete godere in questo mondo, se pensate alla spaventosa situazione che esso porta con sé per l’eternità e spesso già in questa vita!
Sì, il peccato porta spesso con sé il suo castigo anche in questo mondo. Chi invece soffre in questa vita può essere riconoscente all’Altissimo, perché con le sue sofferenze riduce o elimina del tutto la pena del Purgatorio. Non sottovalutate il Purgatorio: i dolori che là si soffrono sono terrificanti in confronto ai dolori della vita. L’inferno però è ancora più terrificante e non avrà mai fine. Perciò voi, se foste furbi e saggi, cerchereste di cancellare, finché siete nella vita terrena, tutte le pene che altrimenti dovreste patire in Purgatorio.
Pregate l’Altissimo [guarda in su], pregate per avere da Lui la grazia del pentimento e per divenire migliori. Io sono stato costretto a dirvi queste cose; ora tocca a voi saperne approfittare.
Padre Heinrich Kreuze
 
(Fonte:dalla rivista IL SETTIMANALE DI PADRE PIO)

FAMED CONSERVATIVE ARCHBISHOP IN FAVOUR OF APPARITIONS

A BISHOP WHO KNOWS OPPOSITION WELL: 'books which criticize Medjugorje moved me to come and see with my own eyes'

22.07.2015.


‘I HAVE PERSONAL REASONS TO THINK THESE APPARITIONS ARE AUTHENTIC’
unnamed
Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard with visionary
 Vicka Ivankovic

  • ‘I know the local bishop is in fierce opposition’
  • Considered ‘most traditional prelate in Belgium’
  • ‘Understands opposition’ but calls book ‘polemical’
  • DESCRIBES ‘THE PRESENCE OF VICKA’ – ‘SUFFERING, COMPLETELY DEVOTED, ALWAYS SMILING’
  • SPECULATES ‘NEUTRAL’ Vatican pronouncement
WORLD FAMOUS conservative Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard has declared his personal belief in the apparitions of Medjugorje since reflecting on a week spent with Medjugorje visionary Vicka Ivankovic who had her daily apparitions in his presence whilst on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The Primate of Belgium, known as ‘the Belgian Ratzinger’ for his conservative and pro-traditionalist views, shared his reflections with Sabrina Covic, co-foundress of Maranatha. Sabrina organised the International Prayer for Healing of Humanity in the Holy Land with local Charbel Maroun, chairman of the Marian Movement of the Holy Land – an event that attracted over 15,000 faithful.
We were invited by Sabrina and Charbel to join them personally with Mgr Leonard and Vicka throughout the week with our group of 25 pilgrims that we brought, lead by Fr Gianni Sgreva CP.
Mgr Leonard has since reflected on the trip that took place back in September 2013 on the Maranatha website and shared his compelling thoughts on the apparitions that he witnessed:
“I was confronted by a fundamental and delicate fact: The lady who helped me tremendously to organize this pilgrimage, Sabrina Covic, had invited one of the ‘visionaries’ (under reserve), Vicka, to join us. This meant that during the great assemblies the rosary was interrupted at 18h40 by what many believe to be an apparition of the Virgin Mary.”
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Mgr Leonard celebrating the Extraordinary Form Mass with
 FSSP General Superior Fr Berg and consecrates priests to
 the traditional fraternity [Note. Mgr Leonard is not an FSSP
confrère and The FSSP have no affiliation to Medjugorje]



topic
Mgr Leonard praying for FEMEN protesters who douse him with water.

Mgr Leonard is more famously known for being a staunchly catholic, tradition-loving bishop. His appointment to Brussels by Pope Benedict XVI on January 18, 2010 arrived with a vow to restore a more ‘worthy’ liturgy and traditional Catholic values back in the country.
Recently traditional catholic bloggers Rorate Caeli wrote ‘truly traditional Catholics need no convincing of the highly problematic nature and false claims of Medjugorje’. Yet Archbishop Leonard, who actively promotes the traditional movement and regularly celebrates the Tridentine Mass, also speaks in defence of Medjugorje although he says the judgement of the apparitions is ‘not his business’ but the business of the Vatican Commission, so he ultimately waits to hear the official ruling.
Vatican Journalist Andrea Tornelli called him ‘the most traditional bishop in Belgium’ and Rorate Caeli described him as ‘offering breathing space for orthodoxy’ by installing in his diocese the FSSP- the traditional Priestly Fraternity of St Peter established by Pope St John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger and 15 former lefebvrian clergymen – and offered ‘the first Tridentine Mass celebrated by a Belgian Primate in over 40 years’.
In 2007 in an interview for Télé Moustique Mgr Leonard spoke boldly about traditional catholic values on sexuality and declared ”I might face imprisonment in a few years, but it could offer me a vacation.”
In 2013 his opposition brought him to international fame when ‘gay rights FEMEN’ activists doused him with water during a conference.
“Two risks exist: the risk that we are being deceived in Medjugorje and the risk that we are bypassing a gift of grace. I prefer to take the risk of openness and prudence”
The Archbishop, prayed, travelled and dined with Vicka, witnessed her apparitions up close and followed her interaction with other pilgrims. We saw several occasions where Archbishop made sure Vatican guidelines were followed that the event would not ‘take for granted the credibility of the apparitions’ by continually expressing to the crowds in front of Vicka “We await for the judgement of the Catholic Church to discern the validity of these apparitions’.
We sat next to the Archbishop as he sat directly opposite Vicka during the time of the apparition in the Garden of Gethsemani. Mgr Leonard was leading the rosary ‘in Latino’ (as he requested aloud) together with a small group as we awaited the time of the alleged apparition. When the time came, Vicka knees slammed onto stony gravel-like ground as she appeared to be in a radiant ecstasy, facing the Archbishop and looking directly above his head speaking to what she testifies was the Blessed Virgin. The Archbishop observed her during this moment, as her throat muscles could be seen moving in great motion as she spoke yet no sound was heard.
Archbishop Leonard described in his reflections of the visionary as having a presence:
“The presence of a Vicka: suffering from poor health, always smiling, completely devoted to the local Christians, especially the sick, certainly contributed in attracting the crowds.”
“I have personal reasons to think that these apparitions are authentic. I also know that the local bishop on the spot, the bishop of Mostar, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, is on the contrary, in fierce opposition. This has not prevented Rome from not feeling tied down by his judgment alone, since an international commission of experts has been appointed to study the phenomena.”
He speculated on the outcome of the commission’s findings commenting:
“According to some, its likely to be neutral, perhaps even lenient, without being able to settle the matter in a peremptory fashion, neither positively nor negatively, since the phenomena are still going on.”
“I do not wish to judge things, situations, and persons from a distance, only from books. I would rather take a little more personal look.”
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Archbishop Leonard and Vicka in the Holy Land (left) and Vicka
 in ecstacy during her apparition in Bethlehem, 2013

Archbishop Leonard says he is well aware of all the things said against Medjugorje, has even read books against it and agrees there are questions to be asked. He is also very familiar with his own share of criticism himself, being considered one of the most attacked bishops in contemporary times. Belgian politicians, activists and even fellow clergymen have pounded this archbishop with constant criticism and it is no secret that some have wanted him removed from his position. Leonard’s spokesman Juergen Mettepenningen, quit his job only three months after joining the archbishop’s office slating “Monsignor Leonard at times acts like a motorist driving on the wrong side of a freeway who thinks all the other motorists are wrong.”
Yet most interestingly, Mgr Leonard attributes the criticism of Medjugorje to being the reason that sparked his interest to think twice about Medjugorje and investigate it further. Mgr Leonard had previously shared an interview with the Medjugorje Parish:
“The fact that at the present time in France and in Belgium there exists much opposition to the Medjugorje events, books which criticize Medjugorje, moved me to come and see with my own eyes. I do not wish to judge things, situations, and persons from a distance, only from books. I would rather take a little more personal look.”
“I keep informed also on the questions that the opponents of Medjugorje are asking. One has to hear them, and therefore I read the book of Joachim Boufflet [Medjugorje – Fabricating the Supernatural] from beginning to end. It is written in a polemical tone which does not seem to me to be in place.”
“I believe there exists that which is fundamental, but also accidentals. One is more positive, and the other is more negative.”
Mgr Leonard addressed the criticism ‘where there is prayer, there will be graces and miracles': “that logic that does not seem to me to be completely correct” explaining “there are many other places in the world where there is prayer, where there is confession, where Eucharist is celebrated, but there are not the same kind of evident fruits!”
“Investigating the fruits is not enough. The facts have to be investigated, but the abundance of positive fruits is in itself a positive evidence, even if it seems to me that there are, as in every human affair, also negative fruits. Wherever there are people, there are also human moments, sometimes far too human. As also among the twelve apostles. . .”
But the Archbishop does not deny the opposition completely, agreeing with some points raised:
“But there are real questions which are asked and which one day have to receive a clear and historically established answer. Accordingly, I accept those questions, but I wish to stay open to the event.”
“I understand why questions are asked and I believe that, there are in this phenomenon of Medjugorje essential things, but there are also parasites. I believe there exists that which is fundamental, but also accidentals. One is more positive, and the other is more negative. In Lourdes the testimony of Bernadette impressed me very much, I would say 100% pure. It seems to me that here there were parasites surrounding the central events.”
“I know bishop friends whose rule of behavior is to say: “Look out, if we are open to the events of Medjugorje, we can perhaps encourage something that is not authentic.” There exists a risk. I am more sensitive to the opposite risk and say: “Just the same, it is possible that Heaven has spoken to people at that place and I do not wish to take the risk of a priori being closed to that grace.” Two risks exist: the risk that we are being deceived in Medjugorje and the risk that we are bypassing a gift of grace.”
“My desire is that those who have the grace and the competence for that, to formulate one day the judgment of the Church about what has happened here. Until then, between the two risks, I prefer to take the risk of being open rather than the risk of a priori being closed to the grace of God which can be operating in this place. Accordingly, therefore, I take the position of openness and prudence.”
Msgr Leonard has since affirmed he awaits the Vatican Announcement and is ready to accept whatever they find.
Archbishop Leonard was not made cardinal, which is normally an historic tradition for all Belgian Primates who are usually elevated to the status cardinal, making Mgr Leonard the first Archbishop in nearly 200 years not to receive the honorary title. Sources tell us reasons for this were allegedly to give other Archbishops the chance to be cardinal rather than automatically giving it to a Belgian Archbishop. Earlier this May, Mgr Leonard submitted his automatic letter of resignation that is compulsory for a bishop at age 75 but often gets renewed. Mgr Leonard’s office was not renewed but the resignation was accepted in what the Catholic Herald called ‘swift’ and Rorate Caeli described as ‘record speed’. Archbishop Leonard will remain in office until September and most likely will not be voting in the Synod.
sources: National Medjugorje Movement, www.maranatha-conversion.com,


http://www.nationalmedjugorjemovement.com/news/famed-conservative-archbishop-in-favour-of-apparitions-3/