NZ BISHOPS' LETTER: STAY HOME AND DON'T LET FATHER IN THE DOOR

And Jesus wept (Jn 11:35).

Jesus wept: His friend Lazarus was dead.  And we weep too, because on Passion Sunday, as we enter the commemoration of Our Lord's Passion, our Church also seems to have died.

No Mass. Churches locked. And our bishops, 'hidden away' in their palaces, write us a letter "following the leadership of Pope Francis" (who is also 'self-isolating' - yeah, right) "who has communicated the graces usually given through these sacraments (Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing) ... through a Plenary Indulgence".

Isn't it true that each Sacrament actually offers the sacramental grace which is proper to it alone?

"The Sacraments have an intrinsic power, in as much as they are the acts of Christ Himself who communicates and diffuses grace from the divine Head to the members of the Mystical Body" (Pius XII, Mediator Dei).

St Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi has exclaimed, "Oh, how great is the dignity of priests!  In ... administering the Sacraments, they give us Your treasures. They are, O Lord, Your secretaries and treasurers."

In the letter they released yesterday, NZ's bishops sound more like civil servants - even, some would say, Maori separatists. 

The Maori translation of  'New Zealand Conference of Catholic Bishops' is writ, big and bold, over and above the English version. To be fair, if the bishops do that, should they not add the Philippino, Korean, Samoan, Chinese etc etc versions of NZCBC?

The date is given as 28 March 2020, rather than "Fifth Sunday of Lent" or 'The First Sunday of the Passion".  In their letter, the bishops forbid us to leave our homes, excepting only the exceptions laid down by our 'be kind' - except to unborn babies - Government.

The bishops give the conditions issued by "the Apostolic Penitentiary for people affected by the Covid-19 lockdown"- in other words, the entire scared-witless world - giving "a way (a Plenary Indulgence) for those in danger of death to be forgiven their sins and to be readied for eternity."

This Plenary Indulgence is granted also to the dying “provided that they are well disposed and have recited a few prayers during their lifetime.” 

Just what does "well disposed" mean? How can a lay person, uncatechised due to the failure of priests since Vatican II to preach the commandments of God and His Church, and grieving at the imminent death of their spouse, take that in? It's not enough in these circumstances, when people are deprived of their priests, 'hidden away' for fear of illness, to issue such glib information.

Where is the requirement, if the dying person is conscious and sentient and hopes for heaven, of an act of perfect contrition??? For sorrow ex amore which springs from love of God who is infinite Goodness, rather than fear of punishment?

For the Sacrament of Confession to be valid, sorrow is necessary, otherwise there is no absolution. Does this not apply also to a Plenary Indulgence for the dying? I don't know; do the bishops know? If we asked our parish priest who is "available to give counsel via the telephone or online", as the bishops recommend, would he know?

Are the Apostolic Penitentiary and our bishops readying those in danger of death for eternity in Hell?

Jesus Christ comes in for a mention in the last three paragraphs of the two page letter (3-page, if you count the appended instructions for 'Quarantine').

In the entire letter there is not any mention of Our Lady, Mary the Mother of God and Mediatrix of all graces, or of the Rosary. 

As a reader has commented, "We are seeing the triumph of Ecclesial Masonry". 

We know, as Our Lord knew in weeping for Lazarus, that the Church is not dead, but only sleeping. Or as Our Lady said at La Salette, the Church is "in eclipse".

What a privilege then, is conferred on faithful Catholics, who in these days which commemorate the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, can run to His Cross with Him and be transformed in Him.

“The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families…that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.” 

(Sister Lucia dos Santos, Fatima seer.)