***Bishop Mark Seitz Kneels for Black Lives Matter!
El Paso’s ordinary jumped on the politically correct band-wagon by taking a knee for Black Lives Matter (BLM) on June 1st with some of his clergy. Does he know what BLM stands for, e.g., destruction of the nuclear family? Has he noticed the anti-religious rhetoric and actions of many protestors? AB Wilton Gregory of D.C. did Seitz one better organizing a June 8th protest at Lafayette Park and a march on the White House. The “invitation” to priests from the Vicar General’s office included orders to wear cassocks or at least black clerics. (What a photo op for liberal media to paint President Trump as a minion of Satan!) This came a week after Gregory’s vicious attack on the JP II Shrine over a long-planned visit by the president and first lady to celebrate religious freedom. Gregory claimed ignorance of the event, although he’d been invited and declined a week earlier. (Truth is not Gregory’s strong suit.) Other liberal bishops joined the hysteria decrying “systemic racism,” the false narrative of police brutality against blacks, that all whites are racists, etc. Just like liberal bishops falsely accused the Covington boys of racism after the 2019 March for Life, we are seeing the same false narrative today on a wider scale. The Bishops advanced the myth of a racist America in their 2018 USCCB doc, Open Wide Our Hearts. It spreads the myth that all whites are guilty of racism, and many of us don’t even know it! If we deny being racists, that just proves we’re racists. With friends like these bishops, who needs enemies? Defund and shutter the USCCB!
***“We have no King but Caesar!” Bow to government!
Reaction among bishops to the virus is revealing! Some eliminated Masses even before government agents ordered it. Many not only followed government guidelines but went way beyond by bolting church doors and emptying holy water fonts. (Who was drinking the holy water?) If we needed evidence of our bishops’ betrayal, response to the virus showed it in spades! Some bishops imposed more draconian rules than the government. They refused the sacraments even to the dying. They ordered priests to “shelter in place.” Some suspended adoration even where few people gathered and social distancing allowed 20-30 feet between worshipers. Other dioceses banned all sacraments: Baptisms, Confessions, First Communions, Weddings, and Confirmations. Even funeral Masses got the ax in favor of simple graveside services. The dying were particularly abandoned! AB Gregory publicly stated that, “My number one priority as your Archbishop is to ensure the safety and health of all.” Other bishops showed the same misguided focus on bodies as they jeopardized souls by nixing the sacraments. What a shameful moment in Church history! How many souls will be lost as a result?
***Ironically, while bishops were cancelling the Masses, one group continued to serve the flock wherever possible. The SSPX offered open-air Masses and Confessions in parking lots and fairgrounds. Following common sense health precautions, Mass goers remained in cars except for Communion with strict social distancing and hand sanitizing practiced by the priest celebrant. Confessions took place with social distancing. A number of courageous diocesan priests exercised creative ways to hear confession. One priest’s video went viral as parishioners installed a confession window in the rectory. Sadly, some priests were disciplined and forbidden to continue. Meanwhile state governments banned gatherings for Mass while they ruled that liquor stores and abortion facilities were “essential.” Once the Black Lives Matters protests began, the same governors who had ministers, rabbis, and worshipers arrested for disobeying the rules, said that BLM protests were essential. They even enabled and encouraged the riots. Among the governors with strict limits on public gatherings who cheered on and even joined the huge protests were Andrew Cuomo (NY), Chris Sununu (ME), Gretchen Whitmer (MI) and Tom Wolfe (PA). Mayors Ted Wheeler of Portland, DeBlasio of NYC, and Jenny Durkin of Seattle (until the protests targeted her home) also championed the Marxists. Writing at InsideSources.com, Michael Graham called the double standard a “tidal wave of political two-stepping” with government “decrying a family trip to the beach as potentially fatal, then urging families to flood into the streets for political protests.” He went on to say they were “feeding public cynicism about the true danger of the coronavirus. It’s also raising questions about whether the severe stay-at-home strategy, which put millions out of work and cost the nation an estimated $500 billion in GDP per month, was necessary.” Got that right!
***How Did Our Bishops Respond to this Hypocrisy?
For the most part they didn’t. Only the Minnesota bishops finally took action to defy Governor Tim Walz’s reopening plan limiting religious services to ten people no matter the size of the church. The bishops, in a May 20th, letter stated their non-compliance saying they would operate at 33% capacity, less than that allowed for malls and non-essential businesses (50%). Several days later, the governor caved. Meanwhile, as many businesses opened, liberal governors discriminated against church services. Several Protestantministers brought lawsuits to defend religious liberty. Only two lawsuits were initiated by Catholic clergy – not by dioceses with all their money and lawyers, however. Nope! The shepherds hid behind their facemasks. So who were the plaintiffs? A few SSPX priests and several Jewish rabbis represented by Chris Ferrara of the Thomas More Society who sued NJ Governor Phil Murphy and NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. While the NJ case is still in litigation, New York and Governor Cuomo lost big, a victory for religious liberty. Did Cardinal Dolan rejoice and move quickly to offer solace to the flock and more access to the sacraments? Nope! According to NBC affiliate KOB 4 in Albuquerque:
The New York State Catholic Conference said New York bishops were not involved in the lawsuit. But spokesman Dennis Poust said he anticipated that “our churches will continue to voluntarily follow state guidelines as a matter of prudential judgment.”
Ah yes, let Caesar call the shots and make the rules. The modern “prudential judgment” of the Catholic bishops appears to be, “We have no king but Caesar.”
***Holy Hand Sanitizer, Batman! Virus Insanity Rules!
One of the side effects of the Wuhan virus is insanity, especially among some clerics. One priest went viral in a video when he blessed Easter food baskets with holy water in a squirt gun. Apparently, the aspergillum wand used for blessings wasn’t cool enough (or he couldn’t find it). Being flip and funny these days is more important than treating holy things with reverence! Not to be outdone, and perhaps wanting his own viral celebrity, another priest conducted a mock Baptism, again using a squirt gun to shoot water on the baby from across the sanctuary. A third priest blessed hand sanitizer, put it in the baptismal font, and called it “a sacramental.” With all the video streaming, many pastors hold live virtual meetings to keep in touch with their people, a laudable effort. Instead of taking these teaching moments to model the dignity of the priesthood, however, some dress in shorts and flipflops and hold comedy hours. All these things erode the dignity of the priesthood. Real Catholics don’t want their “Father” to be just one of the boys. Can anyone imagine Saints Jean Vianney, Padre Pio, John Bosco, or Maximilian Kolbe doing these things?
***The Twilight Zone on Steroids! Tell us it Ain’t so! But the worst abuse comes from a pastor in Hattiesburg, MS. Fr. Tommy Conway who gives Mass bags to parishioners with “everything they need” including a “sacred vessel” (whatever that is). Arriving for Mass, parishioners receive sufficient hosts for themselves and their families in ziploc bags. They deposit the hosts in their “vessel” and hold it up at the consecration. Then they self-communicate or an adult gives communion to the rest of the family and puts the “vessel” back in the bag for the next Sunday. No purification! According to the parish map, some families attending may not even be able to see the altar or the priest. Suppose the Mass is being livestreamed to another building? Can those attendees or people at home do this and receive Jesus? Why not, if this is valid which is questionable. The scenario is definitely bizarre, irreverent, and scandalous! No wonder so few Catholics believe in the Real Presence! Many clergy responses to the Wuhan virus infect us with a viral overload of irreverence and insanity! Our world may be suffering from a physical virus, but our Church is suffering from a spiritual virus that is killing the faith. God preserve us from nuts in Roman collars and laity who applaud their ridiculous antics.
***Bishop Athanasius Schneider is calling for a crusade of reparation desecration of the Holy Eucharist. He tells us, “There has never been in the history of the Church a time, where the sacrament of the Eucharist has been abused and outraged to such an alarming and grievous extent as in the past five decades, especially since the official introduction and Papal approval in 1969 of the practice of Communion in the hand.” See his prayer of reparation at the link below and, if you receive in the hand, consider Communion on the tongue, the method preferred by Holy Mother Church.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/bp-schneider-calls-for-reparation-crusade-against-modern-eucharistic-abuses
***While Liberal Priests and Bishops Kneel to BLM, desecration of Catholic churches and statues goes on apace. In Tennessee, Brooklyn, and Boston, statues of Mary were decapitated and/or covered with graffiti. Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Catholics gather nightly around the statue of Louis IX to pray the rosary. A proposed BLM protest didn’t materialize on Sunday, July 12th when hundreds of clergy and laity joined in prayer to defend the heritage of the city represented in the person of St. Louis. God bless those dear defenders of the faith led by clergy who spent hours in the broiling sun praying the rosary continuously. Unlike Bishop Robert Barron, who recently said asking the bishops what they’re doing about the crisis is the wrong question, (Their job is to pontificate and produce nice videos.), some good shepherds led the spiritual battle. God bless them all!
***Bishops, The Love of money is the Root of All Evils! The Church has been raking in money from the federal trough for years which explains their silence on so many evils. The Wuhan virus offers new opportunities to pick the taxpayers’ pockets. According to the Associated Press, the Church lobbied for and received at least $1.4 BILLION in pandemic relief. As this data came out, the Lepanto Institute exposed grants from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to organizations working to defund police, those spouting violent rhetoric about killing cops, endorsing riots, etc. Is it any wonder Catholics no longer trust the bishops?
***Make All Saturdays First Saturday of Reparation! Crisis times call for crisis solutions. Are you following Mary’s peace plan announced at Fatima? Do you pray the rosary every day and offer the Five First Saturdays of Reparation? Perhaps it’s time for all of us to renew our commitment to the rosary and devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. One way would be to add to the number of days we follow the first Saturday regimen – pray the rosary, spend 15 minutes meditating on a mystery, receive Communion, and go to Confession within a week. How about every Saturday for starters! Add a little fasting and who knows what miracles will take place through Mary’s intercession! Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!