Friday, November 28, 2014

THE REAL ENEMY

It is perhaps time to understand the real enemy. The real enemy is not a bishop who has turned on his people. He is only a casualty. The real enemy is not a manipulative movement and its heretical hero. They are only symptoms. 

So while we focus on ridding ourselves of what have become curses, we must seriously look at what we ourselves have done to our church which made it ripe for such an invasion lest we simply put a bandaid on the cancer. 

The real enemy of course is the REAL ENEMY, the same Father of Lies which has attacked us from the beginning. And in our day, the Enemy has laid the path to perdition right through the classroom, our classrooms. 

In the 1960's I sat in one of those classrooms - in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles where the experiments began. I remember the day, the hour, the class, the teacher, and "the purple book". I documented it all here in a column I wrote for the U Matuna last year. 

And while "the experiment" ultimately made me a warrior, "the experiment" otherwise led, I believe, to the death of my brother, the collapse of my parents' marriage, and the destruction of the moral world around me. And beyond that, it led the implosion of the faith, particularly amongst the clergy, which later made so many of them easy prey for people like Kiko Arguello. 

I believe we must understand what gave birth to the likes of Kiko Arguello for he is not alone. Throughout the history of our Church, the likes of him have always parasite(d) their way into our Church and sucked it from within. But they have done so because of what we - those of us who fancy ourselves faithful Catholics - have done first. 

This article by William Kilpatrick will explain "what we have done first", and in fact, recounts the exact experience which first played out in my 6th grade classroom in 1968. 

How the Sensitivity Movement Desensitized Catholics to Evil


Here is my account of it as it appeared in the U Matuna:

CATHOLIC SCHOOL: AN ALTERNATIVE MEMORY


I share this knowing that it may anger many on "our side". But if we think that this whole campaign has been only about purging this island of the Neocatechumenal Way and a corrupted bishop and restoring a couple of pastors to their offices so that we can get back to our comfortable little way of worship, then we are ALL WASTING OUR TIME. 

There is a bigger Enemy.



13 comments:

  1. What is it that the faithful must do to bring faith and worship back into the church and to enhance the numbers of our youth to religious life

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    1. Faith and worship begins with the family. Parents must be rooted in faith and begin their children's faith formation by teaching them and setting the example. The challenges in modern society overwhelms many families, placing faith formation in the back burner for most. It is no wonder that many baptized Catholics fall along the wayside, as a weak faith foundation will surely crumple with time leaving a vacuum that religious groups like the NCW will gladly fill. The Catholic church needs to address its problems from within and show the faithful that it is cleaning house starting with ALL types of abuse. As a lay person, I often felt that most religious leaders think they're holier than the rest of the faithful and look down on us. AAA always made me feel this way during the times I had greeted him in the past. With Monsignor James, I always sense the connection he has with the faithful.
      In answer to your concerns, I believe that the faith community must encourage and support those who are seeking the religious life for the right reasons. Those who want the religious life for prestige, power, etc. must be screened out. Those in the religious life who are no longer focused on Christ and bringing people to Christ should get out.

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    2. I am working on a longer answer to your question for a post. But here's the short version. I would target what the NCW does and do the very opposite:

      1. They abuse the liturgy. Do the opposite. Get a missal and do exactly as instructed, nothing more, nothing less. Priests: say the black do the red.

      2. They catechize according to Kiko's catechism. Get yourself a Catechism of the Catholic Church and read it. Start a group and read it. If you are a priest, start a Catechism class.

      3. For the youth. Stop turning them over to others. Do what you're supposed to do as a parent. Pull them out of CCD and put yourself in it.

      More later.

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    3. Right on Tim.

      The best counter to anything counter-Catholic is to remain Catholic and remain in her liturgy.

      The retort is always to label us who accept and follow the disciplines of the Church as Pharisees, as if in turn they are as Jesus, possessing new revelation for the Church. Humility is as foreign to these innovators as is solemnity in the worship at Mass.

      As for your third point, although student attendance in my Sunday morning classes would certainly decrease in numbers, I would welcome parents taking on this responsibility (naturally) with full support.

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  2. Read the Baltimore Cathecism or the Cathecism that was put out by the Holy See. Go back to the basics and " be not afraid". Anna D.

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    1. Unknown (November 28, 2014 at 8:55 AM), thank you for the suggestion to "go back to the basics" and for mentioning the Baltimore Catechism (BC). That was the means by which I was catechized, pre-Vatican II. While the current Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is an excellent way to learn our Faith, I personally prefer the Q/A format of the BC and am working my way through the Baltimore Catechism, No. 4: An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine for the Use of Sunday-School Teachers and Advanced Classes by Rev. Thomas L. Kinkead. It's an "oldie but a goodie" with an initial Imprimatur dating back to 1891 and updated in 1921.

      This book would be an excellent resource for parents and/or current CCD teachers to use in catechesis. It follows the Q/A format and provides explanations for the answers with examples drawn from Holy Scripture. The Preface reads "The chief aim of the book is to be practical, and to teach Catholics what they should know, and how these truths of their Catechism are constantly coming up in the performance of their everyday duties." (my emphasis)

      It begins with Basic Catholic Prayers and provides catechesis for those prayers before the Q/A portion begins. I highly recommend this book for parents, grandparents, those tasked with teaching Religion/Theology classes in our Catholic Schools and CCD teachers.

      BTW: While my preference for the BC might label me as a "Rad Trad" it must be noted that it contains the same basic information as the current — and more "politically correct" — CCC in a different format.

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  3. The self actualization of man is not a new concept, but is the result of man's demise since the begining of creation. His desire to be just like God in the garden promised by the Father of lies, this intellectual pride to be equal to the Creator, lead to the disobedience and eventually the fall. No surprise since Satan himself desired to be equal toGod, and was the cause of his fall also. He uses this same deceit upon man, and we fell for it.

    But it would be wrong to blame it on the Devil alone, since God also endowed us with the precious gifts of intellect and free will to search for the truth in Him, and to cling to him alone if we are to bear the fruits of truth.

    Its funny how we see claims from the NCW that Kiko is a "Great Prophet and is the onlyy one who can lead us to God." This is an example of placing more emphasis on Man over God, that is very disastrous especially to the many who fall prey to this outrageous claim..

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  4. The real enemy aside from you Tim Rohr, Chuck and all who post on the jungle, but the greatest enemy are Pale' Mike and Pale' Efren as Diana sees it.

    Dear Anonymous at 7:23 am,

    I am sorry to say but a few of our non-neo priests are just as bad as Tim Rohr. The priests who chose to follow Tim Rohr have lost their character on what it means to be a shepherd. Below was a comment posted by Father Mike Crisostomo in the jungle:

    Pale' Mike(not Anonymous)Pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic ChurchNovember 8, 2014 at 8:27 AM
    Hey Anonymous or should I call you, COWARD! I will be at the Ordination. I dare you to reveal yourself to me then and there. Take it like a man, and come to me...You can't miss me, I am the big fat guy waiting for a coward to show up...Hope to see you!

    Pale' MikeNovember 8, 2014 at 1:31 PM
    I was at the Ordination at 930am...waited for anonymous to show up...but as I said, he is too weak of a soul to reveal himself...the devil hides behind his tail.

    As you can see, Anonymous, Father Mike's comments is very unchristian and unbecoming of a Catholic priest. There is no charity in him. Below is a comment from Father Efren. His comment is too long, so I quoted only the part of his comment showing that he is a sorry sort of a priest.

    Father Efren AdversarioNovember 10, 2014 at 2:37 PM
    ........................................
    Let us not be afraid to fight for our principles. Let us be willing to fight for our faith, our church or for our priests who find themselves silenced by a vindictive administration. Are we not willing to fight for your tithes that are not properly accounted for, and spent for fanciful soirees? Do we not see the farcical gesture of having a secondary seminary?
    Let us see ourselves as a people with the conviction to say Enough Is Enough, and put our face on it? No longer will we tolerate those whose hypocrisy, lies and wrongdoing continue to fester on this island.

    As you can see, Anonymous, Father Efren is more concern about saving the people's tithes rather than their souls. Also, in his comment, Father Efren views the Catholic Church as his and the people's Church rather than as God's Church. These comments can be found in the jungle.

    http://www.junglewatch.info/2014/11/fr-mike-kicks-some-evil-on-facebook.html#comment-form

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    1. Fear is from Satan. And these are people full of fear. Can't even use their names though they use ours. Simply more demonstrations of the evil we already know they embody.

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    2. Fr. Efren AdversarioNovember 29, 2014 at 2:00 PM

      Thanks to the cowardly "anonymous" blogger who mentioned me and Father Mike as threats to an insane situation. At least we have the strength of our conviction to stand behind what we believe. Yes, I can be your worst enemy as my surname "Adversario" indicates. I dare you to reveal your identity and engage me in a dialogue. You have resorted to "ad hominem" attacks, which are unfair to everyone in this ever-evolving tragedy in the Archdiocese.

      You accused me of being concerned about the tithes that people give to the Church. You bet I am, and I am furious whenever transparent accounting is not standard operational procedure in any endeavor. Executives get prison time for these kinds of criminal infractions yet that is not a concern of yours? Yes, I am damn furious towards unfaithful stewards of OTHER people's money! Perhaps you are not aware of the hard-earned money given in good faith by the donors. Is this because everything you need has been supplied to you?

      The NCW is not the Church, and yet you wallow in the good fortune of having a spineless sycophant whose desire is not the welfare of the Archdiocese but a slavish devotion to his Kiko King! As you dance around your tables, clap your pitiful hands, strum your guitars, publicly testify to your sins, thank YHWH for not being like the rest of men, and drink your kool aid, the morale of traditional Roman Catholics on this island is trampled upon. An absentee leader of the Archdiocese makes a pithy appearance, reads his piece as he is surrounded by his posse, and dashes back to the comfort of his community who are impatiently wagging their tails for another round of pizza and double-kisses on the cheeks. All is well for you, isn't it?

      If all is well in paradise why the popularity of a Junglewatch blog which elicits such passionate comments, why are there two seminaries when one would suffice, why is administration unwilling to face public scrutiny and give credible explanations for many issues, why is public conversation never devoid of the sad state of affairs in the church, so on and so forth?

      Then we have the glaring consecutive headlines regarding accusations about the archbishop. None of us would wish that is true but it has to take its due course in the justice system, as even a victim's allegation deserves to be heard and vindicated in a court of law. Another twist in the tragedy.

      Dear anonymous, please do not mistake the tree for the forest, and vice-versa. Whoever you are, look at, and beyond the polarization that has occurred ever so foolishly on this island, and see how you can help to logically assess and rationally resolve a very embarrassing local church crisis that has attracted global attention.

      Father Efren ADVERSARIO
      Memento Mori!

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  5. By the way, so fun to know they can't stay away from my blog. True slaves.

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  6. Sounds very much like Pius the Samnut is directing this one personally and bypassed Edivaldo.
    The writting style and the viciousness is well over the regular dose of the "lil woman with big hands" and "her" capacities.

    Of course in the perverse and distorted world of "The Way" Tim is a leader, because they cannot understand any structure that does not have its own little "Caudillo" a la Kiko style.

    Also note the fascination with any thing having to do with money. It is a very European Marxist approach typical of the Prophet's preachings, and long tormented passage to his actual position.
    You pretend that it is dirty and not worth worrying about, yet it is at the core of anything and everything they do.
    What else can be said, except: " Va de retro Satanas!!"

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  7. The article on self-actualization and its results reminds me of a young, sincere Jesuit priest I met in India 30 years ago who was also plagued with self-esteem problems who grew into a well-known and highly regarded retreat director and author. In one of his books he describes challenging nuns in his retreats to question their vocations which upset them greatly. You guessed it-a couple years ago he followed his own advice and left the priesthood.

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