According to this report a substantial number of North American Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. This is also reported on Fr. Dwight Longeknecker's blog. There is also a report in one or two places about a Mass (in Brazil) for Masons (that is, Freemasons).
Personally, I am having one of my "fed up" phases. I am fed up with continuing nonsense in the Catholic Church. "Nonsense" is not the word; let's try other words such as heresy, blasphemy, apostasy, infidelity, egoism, injustice....
To me, since I was a boy, it has always seemed to me that Catholicism means certain necessary things. Some of these NECESSARY things are belief in the Real Presence, acceptance of, and respect for, Papal authority (and the authority of the bishops), acceptance and love of Our Lady, respect for the Priesthood etc, etc.
We are still in a crisis in the R.C. Church - or should I say crises? We are still in need of renewal. For the record I am not anti Vatican 11 and I cannot, for the life of me, understand anyone who is (that is if they have actually READ the documents!). I believe that big mistakes were made following the Council including some serious liturgical ones (the chief of which, in my humble opinion, is Communion in the hand). I happily celebrate the 1962 Latin Mass, the Missa Normativa (the actual name given to the Mass of Pope Paul V1's Missal) in both English and Latin and both facing the people and Ad Orientem. I do not believe that the answer to our problems is a simple return to the Mass of 1962. I am not happy about some of the new Missal (new translation). It seems to me that something has gone quite wrong with some of it, and that makes me sad. Some of the prayers sound like gobbledygook and that is definitely not helpful. It is one thing to have accurate translations of the Latin but we need good and UNDERSTANDABLE English!
I hope that one day, all orthodox Catholics will be united and will work and pray together for the true renewal of the Church and that they will stop arguing with each other, stop focusing on less important matters (such as how incense should be blessed) and commit themselves to working together in humility and love for the good of the Church and for those outside it. We need to work together, not against each other and we need to understand what the real priorities are. One of them, I think indisputably, is the correct and orthodox presentation of the WHOLE Faith.
Thank you for posting about this Father
ReplyDeleteIt's an upside down world when you consider that one of the major reasons for Anglicans joining the Ordinariate, (God Bless them), is their belief in the Real Presence.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you Fr. Thank you for this posting and for upholding the truth of our Catholic Church. I will keep you in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of something Mgr Keith Barltrop - a convert to Catholicism - said during a Foyer de Charitee Retreat, about Catholicism, which was that it was only the truth when it was taken in totality: removal of even one element, meant that you no longer had the truth.
ReplyDeleteI read a book called the Rhine Flowing into the Tiber and also I think a book about Vatican 11 by, I think, Michael Davies?Or did he write the RhIne BOOK? Hans Kung and his conrades? Did Pope Paul say that the stench of Satan had entered the Vatican--I hope I am not getting my wires crossed, but soem of the things at Vatican 11 seem rathr disturbing--I think it may have gone firthr than Pole John envisaged. I was attending Holy Spirit around 1960, but was disappointed when things began to change--that is why it took me so long to convert! I need to re-read the books I think! Barbara
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