The Foresight of Cardinal Wojtyła

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“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has ever experienced. 

I do not think that the wide circle of the American Society, or the whole wide circle of the Christian Community realize this fully. 

We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the antichrist. 

The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God’s Plan, and it must be a trial which the Church must take up, and face courageously…”

Cardinal Wojtyła

(Pope John Paul II)

Eucharistic Congress, 1976

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From "Faith and Future" by Cardinal Ratzinger

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"We have arrived, then, at the present day and find ourselves looking toward tomorrow. Today, likewise, the future of the Church can and will issue from those whose roots are deep and who live from the pure fullness of their faith. It will not issue from those who accommodate themselves merely to the passing moment or from those who merely criticize others and assume that they themselves are infallible measuring rods; nor will it issue from those who take the easier road, who sidestep the passion of faith, declaring false and obsolete, tyrannous and legalistic, all that makes demands upon men, that hurts them and compels them to sacrifice themselves. 

"To put this more positively: the future of the Church, once again as always, will be reshaped by saints, by men, that is, whose minds probe deeper than the slogans of the day, who see more than others see, because their lives embrace a wider reality. Unselfishness, which makes men free, is attained only through the patience of small daily acts of self-denial. By this daily passion, which alone reveals to a man in how many ways he is enslaved by his own ego, by this daily passion and by it alone, a man’s eyes are slowly opened. 

"He sees only to the extent that he has lived and suffered. If today we are scarcely able any longer to become aware of God, that is because we find it so easy to evade ourselves, to flee from the depths of our being by means of the narcotic of some pleasure or other. Thus our own interior depths remain closed to us. If it is true that a man can see only with his heart, then how blind we all are! 

"How does all of this affect the problem we are examining? It means that the big talk of those who prophesy a Church without God and without faith is all empty chatter. We have no need of a Church that celebrates the cult of action in political prayers. It is utterly superfluous. Therefore, it will destroy itself. 

"What will remain is the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church that believes in the God who has become man and promises us life beyond death. The kind of priest who is no more than a social worker can be replaced by the psychotherapist and other specialists; but the priest who is no specialist, who does not stand on the sidelines, watching the game, giving official advice, but in the name of God places himself at the disposal men, who is beside them in their sorrows, in their joys, in their hope and in their fear, such a priest will certainly be needed in the future. 

"Let us go a step farther. From the crisis of today the Church of tomorrow will emerge—a Church that has lost much. She will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes, so will she lose many  of her social privileges. In contrast to an earlier age, she will be seen much more as a voluntary society, entered only by free decision.  

"As a small society, she will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members. Undoubtedly she will discover new forms of ministry and will ordain to the priesthood approved Christians who pursue some profession. In many smaller congregations or in self-contained social groups, pastoral care will normally be provided in this fashion. 

"Alongside this, the full-time ministry of the priesthood will be indispensable as formerly. But in all of the changes at which one might guess, the Church will find her essence afresh and with full conviction in that which was always at her center: faith in the triune God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, in the presence of the Spirit until the end of the world. 

"In faith and prayer she will again recognize her true center and experience the sacraments again as the worship of God and not as a subject for liturgical scholarship. The Church will be a more spiritual Church, not presuming upon a political mandate, flirting as little with the Left as with the Right. 

"It will be hard going for the Church, for the process of crystalization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church secret. And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. 

"But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already with Gobel, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death." 

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger 

(Pope Benedict XVI) 

Faith and The Future 

Ignatius Press

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Health Care in the USA

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Caring for the sick and infirm is a Christian's concern.  

Considering the situation in the USA, I think when a government lies to its people about health care, Christians should evaluate their participation in both the government and its plans.  

"Should a Christian be involved in health insurance?" is a question few even bother to consider. Is government directed health insurance what God would want us to do in answering the call to care for each other? Can we look to the government as fulfilling our responsibilities when we know the government lies with impugnity?

Perhaps it is a good time in the USA to reconsider all of this and look at alternatives like the Amish method of health care, the old Lodge doctors once known in the USA, or Christian MediShare which has been growing quickly since its method is Biblical and it is an "out" written into the Obamacare law... for now.

Even if you live in the States and have adequate health coverage, do look at what Christian Care provider MediShare is doing.   Two similar ministries doing roughly the same thing and also exempt through the Obamacare law are Samaritan Ministries and Christian Health Ministries and both deserve consideration as a model for how this is done or as an option my American readers may wish to pursue.

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Listening Pleasure

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For a splendid listening experience,
do listen to RADIO WALSINGHAM ONLINE by clicking here.

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Must see / Must read

The Syrian rebels supported by the USA and Saudi Arabia have engaged in horrific crimes against Syria's Christian population.  If you are a U.S. American, why does your Obama government and the McCain Republicans support terrorists in Syria who kill Christian women, children, and men?   

Read the link: click here.

Signs of the Times: Repent

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The holy ikon of the Archangel Michael has begun weeping on Rhodes.  All such mystical events involving Holy Michael Archangel are very significant.  

The meaning can be debated, but such an event always calls the Faithful who follow the Lord Jesus Christ to repent of their sins, return to the Lord with all their heart, and to pray and intercede for a world in grave danger:

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Next they came for the Mormons ....

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An example of a very common theme in the USA's current political climate (which can be characterised as 'Weimar Republic Redux':  

"Why is the Obama government targeting (fill in the blank) Church?"  

This time it is the Mormons who are being attacked and that may explain why Evangelical leaders have been making their way to Salt Lake City to speak for the first time with the LDS Church.  'Come, brethren, let us reason together...' or at least commiserate ... or better yet join forces against a common threat.

So here is a post that looks at the Obama government's attacks on the LDS Church's canneries where they prepare food in state of the art facilities for those in disasters:  http://federalistpress.com/is-obama-targeting-lds-canneries.php

Remember, little children, no matter what happens in life, Turn to Jesus!

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U.S. Spying on the Church

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Some time ago a friend in Rome told me that she believed the U.S. government had been spying on all employees of the Vatican and all operations in the Vatican. I thought it sounded like the stuff of a Dan Brown novel and paid no attention to it.  I suppose now that I should have paid more attention: click here.

Unfortunately, the U.S. federal government seems to be interested in spying on everyone everywhere (including you and me), and that prurient, paranoid interest apparently extends to spying on the Holy Father, the Conclave, and the Vatican in general.  See this Reuters article by clicking here.

The Snowden revelations have shown us an out-of-control U.S. government pressing its listening ear to the lives of each one of us like a Hoover vaccum cleaner sucking up everything it comes across.  

I suspect that it is not just the Catholic Church being spied upon — though the U.S. government under President Obama seems to take a particular interest in thumbing its nose at the Catholic Church. Rather I imagine the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lambeth Palace have been sifted through by the NSA all the way down to each local parish church.  Methodists, Lutherans, Orthodox, Reformed, Evangelicals, and Baptists have likely fallen under the same scrutiny.  

Even those who worship in non-denominational churches should realise that they are being watched by the U.S. government as well. It seems that the operational directive of the U.S. federal government is that each person and each organisation is a potential enemy or a potential asset (provided one has the right blackmail).  

The bottom line is that we believers in Jesus must wake from our slumber and arise without regard for the man-made separations between us. We must remind the NSA and the U.S. federal government of that much loved Democratic dogma "the separation of the Church and State". In other words, 'Get you and your government and your spies out of our churches, and stop spying on us NOW.'

If you are a citizen of the U.S., you could call your Senators and your Member of the House of Representatives... but, of course, they have been spied on by the NSA and the Obama Government as well... should one expect them to do anything to stop the surveillance state when the intelligence agencies could bring out every skeleton from every closet and aim that information at each elected official?  ... 

The mind boggles at the scale of this, but there must be someone willing to stand and demand an end to the spying upon the Church ... someone in that venerable Congress of the land of the 'free' and the home of the 'brave' ...

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Beauty and the House of God

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I have been thinking a great deal about the visual component of Christian worship and Christian churches.  Near to me there is an old Episcopalian parish church which speaks from the outside that it is "church".  It looks like a church.  The windows are filled with stained glass, and one can easily discern the outlines of angels in those windows.  And the interior is filled with a restrained Anglican beauty that tells the story of the Scriptures and that points toward heaven.  

Also, nearby is a Catholic Church where the new main church speaks the language of temples and banks from the outside.  The portico is handsome if a bit sterile, but inside there is sheer madness.  At the front of the cavernous room stands a wooden table way off centre apparently intending to be an altar.  The walls are bare except for narrow, long green coloured cloth hangings with occasional stripe of darker green.  The only crucifix is the processional crucifix.  Take it away and it could be almost anything.  Visually, it indicates not so much heaven but a governmental auditorium where the furnishings up front on the stage aren't quite in proper place.  There is no tabernacle.  There is no eternal flame of the Presence.   I avoid entering this building as I would avoid the plague.

Next to this modern monstrosity is the original church used as a Chapel and for daily services.  It is beautiful.  It is clearly a church.  Inside it is a place where heaven invades earth.  God's story and His story in His saints are clearly spelled out all about the Church.  And in the very heart of the Chapel is the Tabernacle where the Living Bread which came down from Heaven abides.  There also that Eternal Flame burning and indicating that the real and true Sacramental Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is present.  This chapel does not so much point heavenward as Heaven opens up in its midst because the Lord Jesus Christ is present.

There are those whose minds have been schooled by secularists, Modernists, and Marxians who could neither comprehend the beauty of this Catholic Chapel nor what is signified by all of its appointments.  But the average person with limited schooling would recognise clearly that this is a House of God — which reminds me of an Anglican priest who once preached that whatever we preach from the pulpit is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless it can be comprehended by and taken to heart by an illiterate mother of seven children living without electricity or running water.  A very provocative thought.  Judging from the homeless women sitting in this Catholic Chapel staring at the Altar or at the statue of an angel or simply looking up... these women know that this is God's House and that the Lord Jesus is present.  They could have walked into the modern church.... but they don't.  They come here.  And they visit with Jesus.

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A post worth reading for Catholics and others who think the House of God should be more than a hall or auditorium may be found on another website at the following link: click here.

Our Lady of Kibeho warned

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Our Lady of Kibeho (Mother of the Word) gave to Marie-Claire -- a Church approved visionary -- the following message on March 27, 1982 which still speaks to the state of every nation in the world right now this very moment:

“If I am now turning to the parish of Kibeho it does not mean I am concerned only for Kibeho or for the diocese of Butare or for Rwanda, or for the whole of Africa. 

“The world is bad. The world rushes toward its ruin. It’s about to fall into an abyss. The world is in rebellion against God. Many sins are committed. There is no love and no peace. If you don’t repent and convert your hearts, all will fall into an abyss.”

Turn to Jesus. +

Worthy Prayers from the Prayer Book Tradition

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O GOD, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth: deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ALMIGHTY GOD our heavenly Father, guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 

ETERNAL GOD, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen. 

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Radio Walsingham Online

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RADIO WALSINGHAM ONLINE:  listen 24/7 anywhere you have an internet connection, and you will hear the most beautiful music of our Christian faith.

Be sure to tell others about the beautiful music on RADIO WALSINGHAM.  If you would like to listen without commercials, it is very easy to become a VIP member of www.live365.com for not very much money.  I cannot imagine a day without the God-filled classical and ancient music on RADIO WALSINGHAM ONLINE, and I hope you will listen and find your faith renewed and encouraged through this apostolate of renewal for Catholic Culture.

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