1. Life is a continual battle. “Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?” (Job 7:1) If we consider only the material aspect of this battle, we are all among the vanquished. Admittedly, there is some joy …More
1. Life is a continual battle. “Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?” (Job 7:1) If we consider only the material aspect of this battle, we are all among the vanquished. Admittedly, there is some joy and some victory. But our pleasures are as short-lived as the flowers of the field; they are soon “withered and dried up like grass.” (Cf. Ps. 101:5) Our conquests are also very insignificant; they can inflate us for a while, but they do not last long and cannot satisfy us. After death only our triumphs in virtue will persist. Moreover, whereas the joys of this life are few and fleeting, the physical and moral sufferings are innumerable. Sometimes they are so heavy and overwhelming that they cause us to despair. But surely there is a remedy for all the evils which afflict us? God is infinitely good, and He has permitted suffering. Will He not give us the means of enduring it and the medicine to cure it? In fact, Our Lord has given us a remedy for all our ills, even for the most distressing …More
The French public prosecutor has closed a case against Abbé Matthieu Raffray, a known member of the Institute of the Good Shepherd. The report against the priest was filed by an inter-ministerial …More
The French public prosecutor has closed a case against Abbé Matthieu Raffray, a known member of the Institute of the Good Shepherd. The report against the priest was filed by an inter-ministerial office "for the fight against anti-LGBT hatred" (sic). Key phrase of the public prosecutor who refused to play 'Gaystapo': "After careful examination of the comments, no offence appears to be sufficiently serious to justify criminal proceedings against you. I am therefore closing this case." So even in decadent France, Abbé Raffray can call homosexual acts a sin and a vice. #newsXgpfdxurvb
@Billy F, one way or other, some are infiltrated, some are apostatized. And then, we have a bunch of lukewarm ones, which are neither helping the cause …More
@Billy F, one way or other, some are infiltrated, some are apostatized. And then, we have a bunch of lukewarm ones, which are neither helping the cause, but are making it much worse. Many saints have said that when it goes about the Church enemies, the worst they are afraid of are the lukewarm Catholics. And above all, our Lord through his Angel have said the same to us in the book of Apocalipse chapter 3.: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot. 16 But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest: I am rich, and made wealthy, and have need of nothing: and knowest not, that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
Warning for the consecrated souls. "428. Before the Most High reforms or advances those, who for any reason enter the religious state, it is no more than right, that in turning away from the world they …More
Warning for the consecrated souls. "428. Before the Most High reforms or advances those, who for any reason enter the religious state, it is no more than right, that in turning away from the world they avert also their eyes from it and blot out from their memory all its images, forgetting all that they have in so praiseworthy a manner left behind. Those that neglect this requirement and are ungrateful and disloyal toward God, will doubtlessly fall under the punishment of the wife of Lot (Gen. 19,26), and if on account of the goodness of God they do not suffer this punishment in an equally open and visible manner, they nevertheless undergo it interiorly, remaining congealed and full of dryness, without fervor or advance in virtue. Forsaken by grace they thus do not attain the end of their vocation, make no progress in religion, nor find any spiritual consolation in it, and do not merit to be visited by the Lord as children, but to be left to their own resources like unfaithful and fugitive …More
Deuteronomy, the Biblical patriarch distills his injunctions about the moral life into a single binary choice: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that …
Decided to stick around a few minutes longer after Mass than I usually do this afternoon. In my prayers of thanksgiving, I thanked Our Lord for His mercy and for His Sacrifice. I thanked Him for …
More than a dozen tornadoes reported in Nebraska and Texas A tornado emergency was declared in parts of Nebraska as damaging twisters threatened populated areas. Severe weather was forecast tonight and …More
More than a dozen tornadoes reported in Nebraska and Texas A tornado emergency was declared in parts of Nebraska as damaging twisters threatened populated areas. Severe weather was forecast tonight and throughout the weekend, with tens of millions at risk in parts of the Plains and Midwest. NBC News' Jesse Kirsch reports. » Subscribe to NBC News
“But woe to you, scribes (writers of the law) and Pharisees (clergy), hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven (mystical Bodyof Christ/the Church). For you do not go in yourselves …More
“But woe to you, scribes (writers of the law) and Pharisees (clergy), hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven (mystical Bodyof Christ/the Church). For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them." [Matthew 23.13] The Novus Ordo ecumenic church of Vatican II is a perfect example of this hypocrisy.
April 27 - Saint Peter Canisius - Sacerdotis Societate Jesus - 1597 - Fribourg, Switzerland Born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in May 8, 1521; died in Fribourg, Switzerland, December 21, 1597; canonized …More
April 27 - Saint Peter Canisius - Sacerdotis Societate Jesus - 1597 - Fribourg, Switzerland Born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in May 8, 1521; died in Fribourg, Switzerland, December 21, 1597; canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925; feast day formerly April 27. From the disorders of the 16th century Catholic Church, which helped to create the Protestant Reformation, sprung Peter Canisius. He stood out as the leader of the Counter-Reformation in German lands because his scholarship and theological insight, his courtesy and learning commanded the respect even of his opponents. Peter was the eldest son of Jacob Kanis, who was elected burgomaster of Nijmegan nine times and was made a nobleman after tutoring the sons of the duke of Lorraine – a staunch holdout for Catholics. When Peter’s mother died, his father remarried, and his stepmother raised his religiously. Although he went to the University of Cologne and then to Louvain with the intention of becoming a canon lawyer,…More
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced in a video released on Friday that Francis will attend the G7 meeting in Apulia, Italy, on 13-15 June. The Vatican press office confirmed the news. …More
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced in a video released on Friday that Francis will attend the G7 meeting in Apulia, Italy, on 13-15 June. The Vatican press office confirmed the news. Francis accepted an invitation from the Italian government to discuss artificial intelligence, about which he has no idea, he doesn't even use a computer. Meloni said that this is the first time that a pope will participate in the work of the Group of Seven. The G7's commitment, she added, "is to ensure that artificial intelligence is both human-centred and human-controlled". Of course, the G7 ministers are also committed to anti-human abortion. The June meeting will be attended by - US President Joe Biden - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - French President Emmanuel Macron - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida The European Union will be represented by Charles Michel and Ursula …More
Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the former Synod of Bishops, told the German newspaper 'Die Tagespost' (25 April) that there is currently "no consensus" on the introduction of a diaconate …More
Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the former Synod of Bishops, told the German newspaper 'Die Tagespost' (25 April) that there is currently "no consensus" on the introduction of a diaconate for women. But she thinks it would be "a possibility" to leave the diaconate of women to the individual bishops' conferences (sic). There is already a diversity of [lay] ministries worldwide, she says: "The synod could emphasise this diversity by further decentralising it". Sister Becquart believes that Francis cannot or will not make a decision at this time. He has therefore again delegated the issue of women deacons to a commission. At the same time, he is "definitely" open to the "question" of the diaconate for women, but will "take a different path". Sister Becquart sees her leadership of the Ex-Synod as a consequence of a "decoupling leadership positions from priestly ordination". Francis is also doing this in the Roman Curia by appointing lay people or women to [useless] positions …More
Ramon Roks, 27, born as an only child in Roosendaal, the Netherlands, presents himself as "openly homosexual". He will be ordained a priest for the diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch in 2025. Roks has been …More
Ramon Roks, 27, born as an only child in Roosendaal, the Netherlands, presents himself as "openly homosexual". He will be ordained a priest for the diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch in 2025. Roks has been back at the seminary since January 2024. At the moment there are only two (!) students in the diocesan seminary of Sint-Janscentrum. The other seminarian is from Nigeria. Roks' parents are atheists. But he became active in his Catholic home parish at the age of 13. When he was 18, he entered the seminary of the diocese of Breda and studied for four years. Then he began to have doubts and left the seminary to join the Franciscans in Amsterdam. Community life didn't "suit" him and he left to live on his own, where he experienced "freedom". With his friends, he immersed himself in the nightlife of Amsterdam. Roks continued what he considered "a good prayer life", which meant reading the breviary. At the same time, he worked with young people in a Protestant church "to experience other church …More
Becoming a priest is a calling. Becoming celibate is a calling. A calling means that you really want something from the inner part of yourself. So it …More
Becoming a priest is a calling. Becoming celibate is a calling. A calling means that you really want something from the inner part of yourself. So it means that the thing you want most is to become a priest, and the thing you want most is to give up your sexuality for Jesus and become celibate.... But when you mention your sexual tendency after you decide to become a priest, then why do you want to become a priest? It is all in the motivations and intentions.
Pope to CBS: Negotiated peace better than war without end The Pope's interview with CBS was the first one-on-one of a pope with American TV. Excerpts were broadcast on April 24; the full version comes …More
Pope to CBS: Negotiated peace better than war without end The Pope's interview with CBS was the first one-on-one of a pope with American TV. Excerpts were broadcast on April 24; the full version comes out on May 19. Pope Francis asks the belligerent nations in conflicts around the world to “stop the war” in an interview with American journalist Norah O’Connell, an excerpt of which was broadcast on CBS on April 24, 2024. “Please, countries at war, all of them … Stop the war. Look to negotiate. Look for peace. A negotiated peace is better than a war without end,” Pope Francis said, addressing all nations at war in response to a question on what message he would like to send to Vladimir Putin regarding the conflict in Ukraine. About the risk of famine and genocide in Gaza, the Pope did not use these terms himself, but explained that he calls the local parish every day, where “there are about 600 people.” “They tell me what’s going on. It’s very hard. Very, very hard. And food goes in, but …More
Catholic-Hierarchy.org published charts showing the number of priests and members of the top dozen religious orders since the 1960s. The Jesuits were the first order of the top dozen to have lost more …More
Catholic-Hierarchy.org published charts showing the number of priests and members of the top dozen religious orders since the 1960s. The Jesuits were the first order of the top dozen to have lost more than half of their members from their high point in 1966 (1966: 36,038; 2011: 17,908 members). They are currently at 14,195 members, down 61% from the all time high. There is no change in the trends since Francis, a Jesuit, became Pope. Regarding the number of their members, two orders reached that sad milestone in 2016: the Franciscans (now down 55%) and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (now down 54%); and two in 2022: Redemptorists (down 51%) and Vincentians/Lazarists (down 52%). In terms of priests, only four orders have lost more than half of their priests: the Benedictines are down 54% (early 1970s: 7,058; 2019: 3,420) and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate are down 52% (1967: 5,441; 2021: 2,643). In 2022 the Jesuits were down 50% (from 21,025 in 1969 to 10,432 priests), now down 51…More
I just read the obituary of the last of 4 brothers to pass on, all Jesuit priests. It’s interesting that the Divine Word Missionaries would be doing …More
I just read the obituary of the last of 4 brothers to pass on, all Jesuit priests. It’s interesting that the Divine Word Missionaries would be doing so well. I only know of one of their retreat houses (at the site of their former minor seminary) that is full of Buddhas and Zen gardens, with priests to match ( if they still have any around). It is very different in Africa, I would guess, because that has to be where their vocations are coming from.
JEZUS
Ivan Tomas
