Newsweek takes its swipe at the Catholic Church by using the Madonna Image on its cover. It mocks the popular evangelical Christian saying, "Would Would Mary Do?," in an attempt to exploit the traditional RC Marian piety to turn Catholics away from their church. Believe me... once a person becomes convinced that the Church is irrelevant in one's relationship with God, she loses the generations majority of that follow.
Why will the leaders of the Church not realize that they are facing another "reformation" moment? Only this time, instead of breaking-up over the interpretation of scripture, the Church confronts the wholesale abandonment of the practice of the faith by a community rejecting the institutional authority of the Church in the wake of these waves of scandals resonating throughout the media.
Bad habits are hard things to break once they set in. If many of the 'faithful few' who still participate in the spiritual life of their parish, spend two or three months 'on vacation' from the Church... a significant percentage are at risk of not returning. The faithful and the Church stands to lose tremendous numbers throughout Canada and the World if it continues to mishandle this essential dossier.
The 'well' of grace, earned by tens of generations of Catholics is indeed immense; it is not bottom-less. It is possible to render this spiritual water 'toxic' to many, whose understand and practice are not as strong as perhaps their priests and bishops would hope. The bitter opprobrium of successive revelations turns is sickening their stomachs. It may be that many will chose not to drink from the chalice again any time soon... if ever.
It's one thing if people just drift away for a few weeks to accommodate hockey tournaments, vacations and other of life's 'special events'. They almost always return.
It's another thing again if they walk out the door in anger or disgust. Living along the Ottawa River, the Church should recognize that there is a gross difference between 'drifting off' and 'pushing off into the current'. The tide is running strong against the Church these days. Soul's who 'push off' might well be lost to the Church, swept away on a current of 'moral indignation'.
Pope Benedict XVI predicted these 'dark' days back in his early years as Cardinal Prefect of the CDF. I publicly stated that the Church would be 'purified' and reduced to a 'remnant' in the days before Christ's return. This does not mean that we should do everything within our power to save as many souls as possible.
More shameful attacks on the pope, and the Catholic response « CatholicVoteAction.org
Why will the leaders of the Church not realize that they are facing another "reformation" moment? Only this time, instead of breaking-up over the interpretation of scripture, the Church confronts the wholesale abandonment of the practice of the faith by a community rejecting the institutional authority of the Church in the wake of these waves of scandals resonating throughout the media.
Bad habits are hard things to break once they set in. If many of the 'faithful few' who still participate in the spiritual life of their parish, spend two or three months 'on vacation' from the Church... a significant percentage are at risk of not returning. The faithful and the Church stands to lose tremendous numbers throughout Canada and the World if it continues to mishandle this essential dossier.
The 'well' of grace, earned by tens of generations of Catholics is indeed immense; it is not bottom-less. It is possible to render this spiritual water 'toxic' to many, whose understand and practice are not as strong as perhaps their priests and bishops would hope. The bitter opprobrium of successive revelations turns is sickening their stomachs. It may be that many will chose not to drink from the chalice again any time soon... if ever.
It's one thing if people just drift away for a few weeks to accommodate hockey tournaments, vacations and other of life's 'special events'. They almost always return.
It's another thing again if they walk out the door in anger or disgust. Living along the Ottawa River, the Church should recognize that there is a gross difference between 'drifting off' and 'pushing off into the current'. The tide is running strong against the Church these days. Soul's who 'push off' might well be lost to the Church, swept away on a current of 'moral indignation'.
Pope Benedict XVI predicted these 'dark' days back in his early years as Cardinal Prefect of the CDF. I publicly stated that the Church would be 'purified' and reduced to a 'remnant' in the days before Christ's return. This does not mean that we should do everything within our power to save as many souls as possible.
More shameful attacks on the pope, and the Catholic response « CatholicVoteAction.org
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