Let Paranoia Reign!

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.   Mat 10:16-20

What exactly do you do when you suspect someone is being false with you? What do you do when someone stoops to calling you names or slanders you? For that matter, what if you are being falsely accused of something? These are not theoretical considerations. I suspect there are any number of people for whom they are very real circumstances.

The question is an all encompassing one. How are we to conduct ourselves in the world? Should we adopt the mores and standards of the society around us or are we expected to do something different... to be something different. To what extent should we rely on the courts, tribunals and legislatures of this world for truth and justice? Much of this is beyond the scope of this simple blog so let us keep to one simple question. What do you do if you catch someone in a lie?

In the excerpt from Matthew, Jesus is telling his disciples to be both wise and innocent. Other translations use the words cunning and harmless or simple. The contrast between the two is particularly telling. A snake is quite cunning in perceiving and avoiding danger but it can be quite dangerous itself. If you step on a snake you may be bitten. A dove is another story. Anyone who has observed flocks of pigeons knows that they are harmless but they can be incredibly dumb. In combining these two images, Jesus is telling his disciples that he wants them to be wise in the ways of the world and aware of the evil around them. However he does not want his disciples to return evil in kind. Indeed, he counsels them to offer no resistance to the wicked. This is far more than is usually imagined for in order to turn the other cheek you must at least stand your ground.

What do you do if someone lies to you in order to get something? The answer is simple... give it to him if it does no harm... and then point out that the lie was not necessary. In doing so you may gain a brother.

No, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink, for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head." Rom 12:20

Curial Cardinal to celebrate Traditional Latin Mass in St. Peter's Basilica

From Vatican Insider: 

“I gladly accepted to celebrate next Saturday’s mass for pilgrims who came to thank the Pope for the gift of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificumbecause it is a way to make others understand that it is normal to use the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite…” This was the answer Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, gave to Vatican Insider when asked about the meaning of next Saturday’s (3 November) mass which will be celebrated at 15:00 in St. Peter’s Basilica. This morning, the spokesman for the “Una cum Papa nostro” pilgrimage announced that Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, Vice President of Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei will be present at the mass.

The full article may be read here.

All Souls Day Mass

A Solemn High Mass will be celebrated on All Souls Day, Fri. Nov. 2, 7:30pm at St. Lawrence the Martyr Church, 2210 Lawrence Ave. E. This mass is being sponsored by the St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir. For more information call 416-731- 4485.

Lifted verbatim from my parish bulletin...
A brief phone call confirmed that it is in fact a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

Una Voce Toronto: Upcoming Events

This coming Thursday, November 1st, 2012, Una Voce Toronto will be sponsoring a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Mass will be held at the lovely Loretto Abbey, in north Central Toronto. On Friday, November 2nd, Una Voce Toronto will sponsor a Solemn Requiem Mass at St. Issac Jogues, in Pickering. 

Only these past few days have the Synod Fathers spoken of the need to have holy, reverential liturgies. We should take their recommendations to heart and strive to attend this blessed event. Attending Mass and praying for our dearly departed is a most pious act. 

For further information please see the following links: 

Toronto Traditional Mass Society

  Solemn Requiem Mass -Una Voce Toronto

SSPX: Bishop Williamson's October 19th Open Letter to Bishop Fellay

Former SSPX Bishop, Richard Williamson has published an open letter to Bishop Fellay. In the letter, Williamson rejects his exclusion from the SSPX, laying open his criticisms of Fellay's leadership, ending with a suggestion that the latter himself resign. Below are a few highlights:

In other words, the leader of the Society founded in 1970 to resist the novelties of the Council, was proposing to reconcile it with the Council. Today the Society is conciliatory. Tomorrow it is to be fully Conciliar!... 

It is difficult to believe that Archbishop Lefebvre's foundation can have been led to bracket out the principles on which it was founded, but such is the seductive power of the fantasies of our godless world, modernist and liberal...

...The Society's Superior General, General Council and General Chapter may keep Archbishop Lefebvre on hand as a mascot, but that will not help if they all share in a new way of thinking that by-passes the crucial reasons for which he founded the Society. Therefore however good their intentions, they are leading the Society to its ruin by a betrayal parallel in all respects to that of Vatican II. But let us be just, let us not exaggerate. Since the beginning of this slow collapse of the Society, there have always been priests and laity who saw clear and did their best to resist....

...For indeed history repeats itself, and the Devil keeps coming back. Just as yesterday Vatican II wished to reconcile the Catholic Church with the modern world, so today one could say that Benedict XVI and the Society's Superior General both wish to reconcile Catholic Tradition and the Council; so again tomorrow, unless God intervenes between now and then, the leaders of the Catholic Resistance will be trying to reconcile it with Tradition henceforth Conciliar.

In brief, your Excellency ...had you remained faithful to the Archbishop's heritage, and had I myself been notably unfaithful, gladly I would recognize your right to exclude me. But things being as they are, I hope I shall not be lacking in the respect due to your office if I suggest that for the glory of God, for the salvation of souls, for the internal peace of the Society and for your own eternal salvation, you would do better yourself to resign as Superior General than to exclude myself.

The full letter may be read here. 

UPDATE: READ WILLIAMSON'S LATEST BLOG COMMENTARY. 

Official SSPX Declaration: Bishop Williamson Expelled

Richard Williamson 

The SSPX news agency, DICI, officially confirmed the expulsion of Bishop Richard Williamson. As we posted earlier on the extreme probability of this event, it has, come true. It is a logical conclusion to an organization that, ultimately, has no authority. Bishop Fellay may now appreciate the situations that beheld Popes Paul and John Paul - the inclusion of a Lefebvre quotation being doubly ironic. 

The Official communique:

Bishop Richard Williamson, having distanced himself from the management and the government of the SSPX for several years, and refusing to show due respect and obedience to his lawful superiors, was declared excluded from the SSPX by decision of the Superior General and its Council, on October 4^th, 2012. A final deadline had been granted to him to declare his submission, after which he announced the publication of an “open letter” asking the Superior General to resign.

This painful decision has become necessary by concern for the common good of the Society of Saint Pius X and its good government, according to what Archbishop Lefebvre denounced: “This is the destruction of authority. How authority can be exercised if it needs to ask all members to participate in the exercise of authority? “(Ecône, June 29, 1987)

Menzingen, October 24^th, 2012

St. Kateri Tekakwitha: Patroness of Canada

St. Kateri Tekakwitha! It has taken 332 years since her death (1680), but this extraordinary holy woman has finally been elevated to the altar. It is a refreshing canonization after a number of contemporary and highly organized (nay, even politically charged beatifications/canonizations) of an assortment of "holy old boys and girls" (e.g. Wojtila, Roncalli, Mother Theresa, Escriva et al). 

Today also saw the canonisation of the first Native American saint from North America. “Leading a simple life, Kateri remained faithful to her love for Jesus, to prayer, and to daily Mass. Her greatest wish was to know and to do what pleased God.” Speaking in French, Pope Benedict prayed, “Saint Kateri, Protrectress of Canada and first Native American saint, we entrust to you the renewal of faith in the First Nations and in all of North America! May God bless the First Nations!”

The full text may be read here. 

Pope Paul VI to be Beatified

Pope Paul VI

Reports from Vatican Insider confirm that the cause for the beatification on Pope Paul VI (Montini) has been approved. Pope Paul, it should be recalled, issued Humanae Vitae in direct opposition to phenomenal pressure to square the circle, by the Church contradicting herself and "approving" the evil practice of artificial birth control. It may be no coincidence that many local churches spiritually collapsed following local disobedience on this critical moral issue. Being ashamed of Christ and his Vicar, Our Blessed Lord withdrew his graces and the results are there to see. When was the last time you heard from the pulpit a priest or bishop preach the intrinsic evil of contraception? The use of contraception is a clear sign of a debased and grotesquely paganized society. 

 Andrea Tornielli from Vatican Insider writes: 

Paul VI, or Giovanni Battista Montini, the Pope who reigned from 1963 to 1978 and led three of the four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, guiding the Church through the difficult post-conciliar period, could be proclaimed a saint in 2013. After examining the “Positio” with the documents of the canonical process, in recent weeks, theologians of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints voted in favour of the former pope’s beatification, without raising any objections. Next 11 December cardinals and bishops of the Congregation will also vote. Having overcome the theologian hurdle, the final “yes” from cardinals looks highly likely.

The full article may be read here.