Chris Jackson | Remnant Columnist
On Monday Pope Francis addressed representatives of the Hussite Czechoslovak Church and of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, who were in Rome to celebrate, at the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, a Liturgy of Reconciliation on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the death of John Huss. During this address Pope Francis stated, in relevant part:
(Click Here for Part I , here for Part II, here for Part III)
Which is the Divine Authority?
Such reflections lead us easily to the conclusion that a reunion can mean only a submission; for, not to submit to divine authority would be insane; it would be not only wicked, it would be mad. The one question which every Christian has to ask himself, in searching for the answer to '' What is truth?" is, ''which is the divine authority among many authorities?" If there be no divine authority, there is no duty in believing; for no man can invent the Catholic faith for himself, any more than he can obey his own mind. On the other hand, if there be a divine authority, all that we have to do is submit to it. We must not talk about reunion, but about submission. God has not placed a divine authority in this world to make compromises with the" views'' of various sects, but to teach all men the whole truth unto salvation, and to be obeyed with the whole will, the whole heart.
Moss excoriates “religious conservatives” that have issues with Jenner’s transgenderism, asserting that “the trans community has no shortage of religious icons” in the history of Christian martyrs and saints.
The weird thing is, out of the 10,000 or so saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Moss could only dredge up five to help make her case, and (unsurprisingly) none was a transsexual.
In fact, none was anything like Bruce Jenner at all.
(Click Here for Part I and here for Part II)
Is the Catholic Church Divinely Authoritative?
If non-Catholics have accepted the estimate just now hazarded, that "the claim to possess the divine authority to teach truth" is in itself a strong presumption of that possession; they will have easily passed to the corollary, that “ the disclaimer of divine authority is in itself a strong presumption of not possessing it"; and they will therefore naturally turn to the authority which says, "I can teach,” and will ask, “Prove to me that you are from, heaven and I will obey you." Well might the Catholic Church reply with her Divine Master, "Have I been so long time with, you, and yet hast thou not known me?" But in truth all non-Catholics recognize the truism, that the Catholic Church alone is authoritative. It is because she is authoritative that they quarrel with her, alleging that they prefer their private judgment. The question with any Protestant is not, "Is the Catholic Church authoritative?” but, "Is the Catholic Church divinely authoritative?" This question we should like to try to answer.
The American political and legal atmosphere is palpably becoming more and more hostile to basic moral tenets of the Christian faith. Christian bakers are being assessed crippling fines for not baking cakes for homosexual “marriages.” Catholic Charities are being forced to shut down adoption services in many states rather than place children with same sex couples. The Supreme Court is now set to decide whether two people of the same sex have the Constitutional right to marry each other, trumping state law. If the Court rules they do, this could mean the stripping of tax exempt status from many religious institutions.
(Click HERE for Part I)
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism
I recently came across an article entitled, “I Don't Get Anything Out Of Mass.” The article was posted a month ago at Catholic365.com, a conservative oriented and “mainstream” Catholic website. Since then, the article has amassed nearly 33,000 Facebook shares.
The article attempts to respond to the primary reason modern Catholics give for not attending Mass, which is: “I don’t get anything out of it.” While the goal of the article is admirable and the intent of the author is no doubt sincere, the response he gives is a shocking indicator of what passes for “orthodox” Catholic belief in this country.
Although now a few months old, I recently came across the following story from Jeff Ostrowski on a blog entitled, “Views From the Choirloft: Reflections on Sacred Music & The Roman Liturgy.” Apparently Ex-Jesuit and Novus Ordo musical star, Dan Schutte, has been now reduced to drawing upon the theme to “My Little Pony,” a cartoon for girls, for melodic inspiration.
For those lucky Catholics who are somehow not familiar with the “music” of Dan Schutte let me fill you in. Dan’s “hits” include: City of God" (1981), "Only This I Want" (1981), "Blest Be the Lord" (1976), "You Are Near" (1971), "Though the Mountains May Fall" (1975), "Sing a New Song" (1972), and "Glory and Praise to Our God" (1976). As many will recognize, this reads like a laundry list of the musical terrorism most of us were subjected to in the Novus Ordo at some time in our lives.