Friday 8 July 2011

The Whimpering Black Sheepdog

I thought I should offer one last post on the Corapi affair, but I have decided to keep it simple and offer a link to The Anchoress who seems to have the right attitude to the sorry business. Thinking about his "statement" this morning I couldn't help thinking about a whimpering dog. He is still in my prayers, but more so the people he has been and still is hurting.

9 comments:

  1. "He is still in my prayers, but more so the people he has been and still is hurting. "
    Well I've said my Hail Marys for him and I'm moving on.
    I'm praying for you and all the decent priests who take the lumps for self aggrandising pretenders like Fr Corapi. He has plenty of people all over the world offering prayers and masses for him. But he has the same freedom to accept or refuse the mercy of God as the rest of us.
    And there is no mercy without judgement.
    I'm especially praying for my own parish priest who has cancer . His homilies are like none I have ever heard before. All delivered without the least rhetorical device or flourish. He speaks quietly and simply and you could hear a pin drop as he does, so closely do we all pay attention to him.
    He could have a worldwide podcast ministry and win the adulation of masses of catholics.
    And yet he shuns any kind of flattery, or the kind of fussy cliques that often gather around priests.
    His name if Fr Alan. Please Fr John, remember him at mass and in your daily prayers. I am especially asking for the intercession of l John Paul II. Do You know if there is a way I could go about organiszing this in a more formal way?
    I don't want to embarrass Fr Alan who hates fuss however.

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  2. Clare, I think asking for prayers as you do on the blogs will be enough. I don't know how many read this blog, but yesterday I had nearly 400 hits. I hope they and others on any other blogs you post on will see your request. I shall remember him - and thank God for him too.

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  3. Thank you Fr John.
    I was thinking that I might ask some parishioners to join me in petitioning Bl John Paul 2 for his healing, but I'm not sure where to begin.

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  4. Sometimes egos get in the way and the original idea is hijacked by the less loving or less stable.
    Sometimes trying to be democratic doesn't work and a more formal structure is needed.

    Please pray and support a blogging friend who may have unfulfilled expectations, whose motives are worthy and whose heart is sincere.

    From the originator of the Guild before he went to the Rome Blogmeet:

    "I honestly believe that a Guild of Catholic Bloggers would help those of us who blog grow closer to each other in love. We would be able to meet face to face, in the real world, and get to know one another as Christians should. We could care for each others' needs, physical and spiritual, and pray together in unity and peace. It might be possible to use Guild meetings to seek reconciliation and forgiveness - for, in the heat of online arguments, it can be too easy to fall out or say things that are designed to hurt. A Guild of Catholic Bloggers could also arrange for spiritual retreats and conferences, or workshops designed to get the most out of blogging. It could also facilitate talks by experienced and holy bloggers, who would be able to guide those who wish to turn their blogs into tools of the new evangelisation or aids to holiness".

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  5. Well said Father. I am afraid this story will run and run. Celebrity and priesthood just don't mix. Theose who followed Fr. Corapi must make up their own minds.
    Claire is right we should pray for our priests. They work humbly and diligently among us.

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  6. Dear Father, lots of things about Fr Corapi's situation really trouble me. Anyone can fall, that's understandable. But listening to any of Fr Corapi's teaching at least up until 2009, it was amazing. Not his voice or his style but the absolute truth of undistilled catechism, as it is told virtually nowhere. The idea that he lived with a prostitute for some time and could preach like this bewilders me. I can see a gradual weakening of his words and development of his ego from when his appearance changed significantly in Jan 2010 - so much so that he had to make a public and Black Sheepdog style video explaining that his health was ok and he now had a personal trainer and we should probably all do the same. But his face and mannerisms have changed significantly too. Many have commented on the fact that he cannot seem to mention Our Lady at all. And his one reference to Jesus is that "You" (his listeners) believe in Jesus - not that he does. The keeping open of the comment boxes, which doesn't even promote his money making empire is also strange - people are destroying each other out there. I was particularly interested to see that the article he put up "On Sheep and Sheepdogs" - though not hs own writing, took us from Fr Corapi's stated position that one has the right to defend oneself - with a gun if necessary, to if you can carry a weapon, bring it everywhere - especially to Church. Subtle, very subtle. Finally the ridiculous and frequently asserted "choices" of "crawling under a rock and dying" - he has said it 100 times - I believe he is possessed and I believe that this particular line is the demon(s) speaking directly about what will happen if they are brought to SOLT community life. I do not mean to excuse Fr Corapi completely by this - perhaps pride, addiction, impurity was the entry point for this, but I can't find any credible other explanation for the change in him. I don't think he is currently capable of speaking the truth. Do you think this is way off balance? I would really appreciate your views. God bless.

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  7. I do not believe Fr. Corapi is possessed. There would be more evidence if he was. He is certainly troubled by evil spirits, but that is not the same thing. His main problem is his addictive and neurotic personality. He is very talented and has a good understanding of Catholic doctrine etc, but a number of things can be noted in his story - first of all, he was allowed to be largely independent by SOLT and this meant he could build up a business empire of some kind. This gave him power. Secondly, he became famous and had many followers and admirers - this stoked his pride. I also believe he saw himself in an unrealistic way - he entered into some kind of fantasy about himself. All of this goes with an addictive personality. Now he is in denial and is fantasizing about himself. His deep insecurities have led him to project himself as a victim or martyr. He does need deliverance prayer but he also needs extensive therapy and spiritual direction. Of course, he will only get any of these when he struggles to make a humble confession. This will be the breakthrough for him. As he is now he is immensely dangerous and should be placed in Our Lady's prayers. Those who still follow him may find themselves being sucked into a spiritual black hole.

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  8. Thank you Father, perhaps you are right, but I still find it difficult to understand how one can be living in mortal sin and preaching the absolute truth so strongly. The Holy Spirit uses weak vessels, but mortal sin darkens the intellect etc.Your summary of him now and in the recent past is very accurate. But watching some of his old videos on you tube, I look at a man who would find the current persona he is projecting laughable and ridiculous. And in the BSD "era"(!) he can only spout the vaguest nonsense that even he is unsure of what he is talking about. I feel I am dealing with a different Spirit! For an example see his 4th July homily for 2008 (death wish part 1) here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOjTXastftI&feature=related and comparethat to the nonsense of this year's 4th July message. I'm struggling here Father.

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  9. We simply do not know when he might have been in mortal sin, so we don't really know how his moral collapse began and continued. I would guess that when he began his preaching ministry he was not, as you say, in mortal sin. In other words, he began well, but his psychological problems and attacks from the evil one led him into his present cul-de-sac

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