Bishop Fellay's most recent Letter contains the following words on the importance of education of the young. Given my recent observations of the perverse decadence of Catholic youth who proclaim their de facto apostasy via social media -basically archiving via the internet, sin - Bishop Fellay's words are extremely important.
In a world that is increasingly hostile to keeping the commandments of God, we must have a genuine concern for forming well-tempered souls who take their sanctification and salvation to heart. This quite naturally leads us to give a great deal of attention to our schools and to their development. In these works of formation we invest the greater part of our resources and efforts, both human and material. Throughout the world, priests and religious are dedicating themselves to the magnificent task of Catholic education and teaching in more than one hundred institutions.
Well aware, dear faithful, that the salvation of a soul starts in the cradle, we struggle with all our might to preserve the treasures of the Christian home, a center of holiness in the midst of a decadent world that can only lead souls to hell. We do appreciate and share the concerns of fathers and mothers of families who have understood that the salvation of their children’s souls is priceless. Yes, it is necessary to be ready to make all possible sacrifices of temporal goods—even to the point of giving one’s life—in order to assure the blessed eternity of a soul.
HE'S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ON THE ROSARY. But his letter seems to be slightly spiritually malformed. I hope I don't offend you. But his distaste for our current pope's approach is ignorant. But I see he spent time excommunicated, so I guess that's when his slight misunderstanding of the faith crept in, I say that with all due respect for his office, and recognition that he is another Christ. I kiss his ring. ON THE ROSARY: It is the bicycle with training wheels for prayer. That is, you can learn to pray by praying the Rosary. We all have three wild dogs going in three different directions, our imagination (perhaps focused on the 2012 Olympics), our mouth (blabbering to our neighbor in church) and our heart (painfully remembering that slight our neighbor gave us yesterday). So the goal is to get all three dogs on leashes. The Rosary can accomplish this. First off, the Rosary is vocal prayer. You can't blabber to your neighbor if you are praying the Rosary. Secondly, we have the mysteries of the Rosary, and these focus on the Life Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, so you have to focus your imagination on Jesus' life and not on what you are going to cook for dinner. But then there is the heart. You must put yourself into the situation about which your are praying, and put your heart into it. So it's the Annunciation. Is that the Father behind that curtain waiting to see what Mary will say when the angel tells her of His plan? Do we place our hearts with the Father and watch in wonder and gratitude as she says, "Yes." Do we think about the implications of that "Yes." That there would be no Jesus without Mary. That she perhaps stood in our place when she said, "Yes." You get the picture. Engage your heart into the mystery. Otherwise, it's just the same old Annunciation I prayed on 50 million times before. The angel shows up. So what? She says yes. So what? What I'm cooking for dinner is more interesting. Catholics can get very immune to the mysteries of their own faith. Keep trying to pray with way daily, eventually God the Father will make it easily by giving you infused prayer. God bless you. Susan Fox www.christsfaithfulwitness.com
ReplyDeleteLike you I personally disapprove of Bp. Felley's refusal to accept Pope Benedict's offer for a return to full communion. The post is there to provide information. It is my fervent prayer that the SSPX return to full union with Rome.
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