It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops. We must really make an effort to change this.
To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth – that is not living, but existing.
Assuredly, the word of truth can be painful and uncomfortable. But it is the way to holiness, to peace, and to inner freedom. A pastoral approach which truly wants to help the people concerned must always be grounded in the truth. In the end, only the truth can be pastoral.
“What is perfection in love? Love your enemies in such a way that you would desire to make them your brothers … For so did He love, Who hanging on the Cross, said ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 23:34)
One can readily admit that the Magisterium's manner of expression does not seem very easy to understand at times. It needs to be translated by preachers and catechists into a language which relates to people and to their respective cultural environments. The essential content of the Church's teaching, however, must be upheld in this process. It must not be watered down on allegedly pastoral grounds, because it communicates the revealed truth.
The confirmations in the Tridentine Rite in Copenhagen fills my heart with immense joy.
These truly are the seeds of a Christian and Catholic revival.
I ran out of tags for Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke's tremendously lucid address at the Franciscan University of Steubenville on the Instrumentum Laboris and attempts to reform the annulment process. This was delivered, whether intentionally or co-incidentally, ont he same day that Pope Francis decided to attack marriage through his Motu Proprios regarding changes to the annulment process.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar