Ray

“Do not let the past disturb you. Just leave everything in the Sacred Heart and begin again with joy.”-St.Teresa of Calcutta / Catholic🇻🇦/ Retired Veteran🇺🇸

[Michael Knowles @michaeljknowles]

"Terrific response"?

Jesus: Go and make disciples of all nations.

Cdl. Vesco: Actually, don't.

Bp. Barron: Hey, that guy opposes the Great Commission.

Cdl. Vesco: Correct.

[Fr Stephen Imbarrato @FrStephenImb]

I stand with @BishopBarron on this one.

[Kate 🐘🇺🇸👠 @KateKcollins1]

Do NOT EVER use my Catholic faith as a weapon against me because I refuse to submit to your political demands. My loyalty belongs to Jesus Christ, not a political party, and I will not allow anyone to confuse the two.

There is something deeply disturbing about watching people invoke Christianity while questioning another person’s faith simply because they refuse to support a particular candidate.

As Catholics, we are called to form our consciences according to the teachings of the Church, not surrender them to political pressure. No candidate, party chairman, or political organization has the authority to dictate the sincerity of our relationship with God.

The Catholic Church has endured two thousand years of persecution, wars, fallen empires, and political upheaval. Our faith was never meant to be reduced to loyalty to a political party.

And something else needs to be said. Stop weaponizing prayer.

When you tell someone you will pray for them while simultaneously insulting their character and questioning their Christianity, you should seriously examine your own intentions.

Prayer is sacred. It is an act of love and intercession before Almighty God. It is not a tool for humiliating someone who disagrees with you.

What makes this especially disappointing is when these attacks come from people you once considered friends. Political disagreements should never become an excuse to abandon Christian charity.

You can disagree with my decisions. You can challenge my opinions. But you do not get to use my devotion to Christ as leverage to secure my vote.

I will not compromise my conscience to satisfy someone’s political expectations.

My Catholic faith existed long before this election, and it will remain long after these candidates are forgotten.

I kneel before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. I will not kneel before a political party. Ever.

[Sign of the Cross @CatholicSOTC]

Bishop Barron rebukes a cardinal who claimed the Church is “not there to convert” and must promote fraternity not evangelization.

“If I really thought that the Church does not exist to bring people to Christ, then I would resign and get an honest job.”

https://t.co/TtweOmHaZf

[Fr. Dwight Longenecker @dlongenecker1]

Jihadist: Convert or I will cut off your head.
Catholic Cardinal: Let's dialogue.

[Rachel Campos-Duffy @RCamposDuffy]

Yes! This is the way. So beautiful!!
Vive La France!
Saint Joan of Arc, Pray for us🙏

[Ray @_Sacred_Heart]

@grok AI?

[Thaïs d’Escufon @ThaisEscufon]

At this moment in history, when France is at risk of disappearing, my friend @Erga3x and I decided to perform a 19th-century hymn to Saint Joan of Arc, who led French troops during the Hundred Years’ War and reclaimed the throne.⚜️

More than six centuries after her trafic death, Joan remains a symbol of courage and love for one’s country.

She reminds us that even when everything seems lost, a single person driven by faith and determination can awaken an entire nation.

(Find the link to our folk music channel in the description.)

[Paul J. Kim @hey_PJK]

I approve this message 1000%!

The Church exists to evangelize. Anyone who teaches otherwise has lost the plot.

[Ray @_Sacred_Heart]

@BishopBarron @scriptivist LETS GOOOO BISHOP BARRON‼️YES.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

@scriptivist I'm from Chicago. Cold never bothered me.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

@repenthescoming That is wonderful to hear. God Bless.

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

Well, another Cardinal has come out with a, shall we say, puzzling take on evangelization.

A few years ago, Cardinal Américo Aguiar, at the time auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, said that he and the other organizers of World Youth Day in his hometown had no interest in converting anyone to Christ.

Now Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algeria has opined that “the Church is not there to convert” and “Christians should approach other religions through fraternity rather than seeking conversions.”

Excuse me, but…what?

Last time I checked, the Founder said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Sure sounds like conversion to me.

When St. Paul came to Corinth or Athens or Thessalonica, his purpose was not to listen or to form a discussion group but rather to declare an unnerving message: the euangelion (glad tidings) that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

So impassioned is he for this work that he says, “I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:22); and “If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16)!

Moreover, the entire thrust of the Second Vatican Council was toward bringing the Light of Christ to the peoples of the world (Lumen Gentium). And this missionary élan has given rise in the last few decades to the idea of a “new evangelization,” which is to say, a fresh declaration of the Lordship of Christ.

Quite obviously, no one thinks that this work of evangelization should be done in a brow-beating, overbearing, or disrespectful manner (proselytization), but for God’s sake, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

If I really thought that the Church does not exist to bring people to Christ, then I would resign and get an honest job.

[T.E. Jentzen @Faithful2Pray]

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations🤔

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

This business about kneeling for Holy Communion was settled long ago. In fact, the USCCB was subtly corrected on the matter in the publication of the 2010 American translation of the 2000 edition of the Missale Romanum. Here's what happened...

In 2000, the third edition of the Missale Romanum was promulgated by St. John Paul II, which included a revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal (i.e., the GIRM). Every episcopal conference could then make adaptations proper to their own bishops' dioceses as long as the Holy See approved those modifications.

In 2002, therefore, this revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal was issued for the United States with the approved adaptations for the United States.

Paragraph 160 of that 2002 US GIRM said: "The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by
providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm."

Communicants couldn't be denied Holy Communion for kneeling, but they should be "addressed pastorally." Keep in mind, we were still using the 1972 translation of Mass found in what was called then the Sacramentary.

In 2004, the then-Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments at the Holy See issued an all-encompassing document addressing deficiencies and abuses regarding the Most Holy Sacrament called Redemptionis Sacramentum.

In paragraph 90 of that document, the Holy See affirmed: "'The faithful should receive Communion kneeling or standing, as the Conference of Bishops will have determined', with its acts having received the recognitio of the Apostolic See. 'However, if they receive Communion standing, it is recommended that they give due reverence before the reception of the Sacrament, as set forth in the same norms.'"

Note the Holy See's insistence here on the norm that any determination by an episcopal conference on these matters must have the approval (the recognitio) of Holy See.

The following paragraph (91) says this: "In distributing Holy Communion it is to be remembered that 'sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them'. Hence any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion. Therefore, it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing."

Fast forward to 2010 after the US Bishops approved an English translation for the 2000 Missale Romanum, it's sent to Rome to be approved, but NOT WITHOUT a change in the US GIRM at paragraph 160--a change that wasn't reported at the time as being requested by the USCCB. In other words, it's a change that the Holy See simply made on its own authority.

Unlike the 2002 US GIRM at 160, the 2010 and CURRENT US GIRM at 160 doesn't mention any pastoral issue needing to be addressed about the faithful kneeling to receive Holy Communion. Presumably, this is because the Holy See doesn't think it is a pastoral issue.

The 2010 US GIRM, approved by the Holy See and changed from the 2002 version by the authority and initiative of the Holy See, now says:

"It is not permitted for the faithful to take the consecrated Bread or the sacred chalice by themselves and, still less, to hand them on from one to another among themselves. The norm established for the Dioceses of the United States of America is that Holy Communion is to be received standing, unless an individual member of the faithful wishes to receive Communion while kneeling" (and cites Redemptionis Sacramentum, paragraph 91).

Thus, in 2010, the Holy See changed the US GIRM specifically to remove any sense of kneeling being a pastoral issue. Yes, standing is the norm in the United States, UNLESS a member of the faithful wishes to receive Holy Communion while kneeling.

Sources in the replies:

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Kneeling to receive Holy Communion is not liturgical extremism. This was settled long ago. 👇

[Father V @father_rmv]

The Cardinal would have failed my first year high school theology class, ‘Fundamentals of the Faith.’

[Ray @_Sacred_Heart]

@LifeSite @grok what is this Cardinal’s background?

[Fr. Joseph Krupp @Joeinblack]

It’s a remarkable thing to be a Catholic priest in these days.
I assume to some extent it’s always been like this but for the most part, we really didn’t know how bad many of our leaders are.
In the end, a man leaves seminary taken with the idea of Church and the rest of his life is the reality of the Church taking that idea from you and smashing it to pieces.
At core, the problem is that our leaders are selected by our leaders.
When they choose a Bishop, the most important trait is “who does this guy know?” and Jesus does not have to be on that list of people.
This week, we’ve had one Cardinal choose for the second year in a row to give an award to an abortion radical.
Now we have a cardinal who thinks leading people to Christ is a bad idea.
Ugh.
The church is led by all kinds of men: some are saints in the making, some are vaguely aware of the basics of Christianity, some are functional atheists.
A vast majority of them hace two things in common:
1. Absolutely, positively no accountability.
Neither of these Cardinals will face any consequences from their brothers or from the Holy Father.
It’s just not done.
2. Absolutely, positively no long term experience as pastors in churches.
They don’t know the grind.
They don’t know God’s people.
They have almost no sense of the reality of the daily life of a Christian; they have no “smell of the sheep” on them.
I’ve been at a critical stage in my life for the last few years, and so much of it centers around the simple reality: I can look at the problem, describe it, bemoan it, try to get the people in charge to see it.
That has born absolutely no fruit.
What do we do?
We charge forward boldly and with great joy.
Each of us reading this is part of the problem.
I am part of the problem.
I am a sinner, and I have affection for some of my sin.
But I also have something that you do as well: the grace, joy, and love of Jesus.
We have the Holy Spirit in us that raised Jesus from the dead.
Each of us reading this has everything we need from God to be a saint.
I mean it.
We absolutely have to decide to love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and press forward, knowing that the Good Shepherd is alive and well, guiding us, protecting us, genuinely caring about us.
The problem has been described and complained about ad nauseam.
Enough.
Let’s get busy being the answer.
Let’s get busy being saints.

“In the heart of the Church, I will be love”
-St. Therese

[Father Joseph DeMarzo @Joseph_DeMarzo]

@BishopBarron Bishop Barron, thank you.