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"For many faithful Catholics not having access to churches and the Mass and Sacraments is distressing. It is a sacrifice, but it will not be for much longer" - Cardinal John Atcherley Dew.
Yes, Cardinal Dew, it is distressing:
"Whatever we do is about the safety of all people, that is what we are putting a stake in the ground for," says Cardinal Dew.in an email to a faithful Catholic of the PN Diocese, last week.
And there were we faithful Catholics, all thinking that whatever a cardinal, bishop or priest does is about the safety of souls. That's what cardinals, bishops and priests are consecrated to do. It's not your job, your Eminence, to do anything about our physical safety. Please leave that to the 'experts' who are doing quite badly enough, wrecking our children and grandchildren's inheritance, without your interference.
Dear Cardinal Dew, we've already got Ms Ardern and Dr Who (I can never remember the nerd's name), Mr Plod the policeman patrolling the beach, the MoH and our 'leading team of journalists' at TvOne 'News' all lecturing us on what's good for us - and the neighbour snitching on us for popping our bubble. And as if that were not enough there's Dr Fauci and Bill Gates in the US, 'globally' poised with needle at the ready.
Dear Cardinal Dew, your "safety of all people... also includes of course the safety of our priests, many of whom are elderly and could be vulnerable".
Let's face it, your Eminence. Most of our priests are elderly, and that's because the Church hierarchy have stifled priestly vocations by exactly the sort of behaviour we're witnessing now in these days of lockdown: by deserting Christ and His Gospel for that old harlot, the world.
These priests are old men who if they've lived holy lives will be longing "to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better.with Christ, which is far better" (Phil 1;23).
"One of our obligations is to keep everyone safe." That is not your obligation, your Eminence. Your obligation is to celebrate the Mass and the Sacraments and preach the Gospel - in season and out of season.
"When we have advice from Government and the Ministry of Health that it is safe we will then take action." Pardon me? What do the Government and the Ministry of Health know about your flock's spiritual welfare? They have proved to literally devastating effect that they know nothing even about our physical welbeing.
"Not having access to churches and to the Mass and the Sacraments is distressing. It is a sacrifice, but it will not be for much longer."
Whoa! A sacrifice, your Eminence, for whom, exactly? Not for your good self, or the rest of the bishops, or the priests. You have access to churches. You celebrate Holy Mass. You can celebrate the sacraments if you wish - for a privileged few.
"We normally have an abundance of access to Mass and the sacraments." Ahem. Actually, not. To receive the Sacrament of Confession I either have to ask for it in my parish, or line up at the PN Cathedral and miss out because it's obviously not available often enough.
And to attend the Latin Mass - the Immemorial Mass - I must drive an hour and a quarter to an out-of-the-way church at Ashhurst, or an hour once a month to a funeral parlour in Napier where Mass is said not by a diocesan priest, but the SSPX. I don't call that "an abundance of access".
But you say it is, in comparison with "people in some parts of the world where they may only see a priest once a year."
Why drag in this red herring, your Eminence? Has it perchance got anything to do with the modernist hierarchy's push for women deacons?
"When we see our loss in this context we are able to be in touch with the global Church, and in solidarity with those who do not have what we are used to having."
Oh, spare me the New World Church, Marxist buzz words. 'Global.' 'Solidarity.' Your people, your Eminence, need to be in touch with Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the Mass and the Sacraments. To be "in solidarity with those who do not have what we are used to having", your people need only do penance and pray for priests. Good, holy priests. I recommend the Prayer of St Therese of Lisieux.
"For many faithful Catholics not having access to churches and the Mass and Sacraments is distressing. It is a sacrifice, but it will not be for much longer" - Cardinal John Atcherley Dew.
Yes, Cardinal Dew, it is distressing:
- for faithful Catholics to be told to "make a spiritual Communion" instead of receiving the Body and Blood of their Lord Jesus Christ
- to be allowed only a handful of their nearest and dearest attend a funeral service (let alone a Requiem Mass) to pray for the soul of their husband/wife/father/mother
- to be in a state of mortal sin and not receive absolution from a priest
- to have a baby perhaps in danger of death who cannot be baptised by a priest
- not to be able to make their confession, especially at Easter time (remember Easter duties?)
- to be locked out of the church and away from their Lord and Saviour in the tabernacle
- to realise how distressing it is for their Lord and Saviour to be locked in.
"Whatever we do is about the safety of all people, that is what we are putting a stake in the ground for," says Cardinal Dew.in an email to a faithful Catholic of the PN Diocese, last week.
And there were we faithful Catholics, all thinking that whatever a cardinal, bishop or priest does is about the safety of souls. That's what cardinals, bishops and priests are consecrated to do. It's not your job, your Eminence, to do anything about our physical safety. Please leave that to the 'experts' who are doing quite badly enough, wrecking our children and grandchildren's inheritance, without your interference.
Dear Cardinal Dew, we've already got Ms Ardern and Dr Who (I can never remember the nerd's name), Mr Plod the policeman patrolling the beach, the MoH and our 'leading team of journalists' at TvOne 'News' all lecturing us on what's good for us - and the neighbour snitching on us for popping our bubble. And as if that were not enough there's Dr Fauci and Bill Gates in the US, 'globally' poised with needle at the ready.
Dear Cardinal Dew, your "safety of all people... also includes of course the safety of our priests, many of whom are elderly and could be vulnerable".
Let's face it, your Eminence. Most of our priests are elderly, and that's because the Church hierarchy have stifled priestly vocations by exactly the sort of behaviour we're witnessing now in these days of lockdown: by deserting Christ and His Gospel for that old harlot, the world.
These priests are old men who if they've lived holy lives will be longing "to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better.with Christ, which is far better" (Phil 1;23).
"One of our obligations is to keep everyone safe." That is not your obligation, your Eminence. Your obligation is to celebrate the Mass and the Sacraments and preach the Gospel - in season and out of season.
"When we have advice from Government and the Ministry of Health that it is safe we will then take action." Pardon me? What do the Government and the Ministry of Health know about your flock's spiritual welfare? They have proved to literally devastating effect that they know nothing even about our physical welbeing.
"Not having access to churches and to the Mass and the Sacraments is distressing. It is a sacrifice, but it will not be for much longer."
Whoa! A sacrifice, your Eminence, for whom, exactly? Not for your good self, or the rest of the bishops, or the priests. You have access to churches. You celebrate Holy Mass. You can celebrate the sacraments if you wish - for a privileged few.
"We normally have an abundance of access to Mass and the sacraments." Ahem. Actually, not. To receive the Sacrament of Confession I either have to ask for it in my parish, or line up at the PN Cathedral and miss out because it's obviously not available often enough.
And to attend the Latin Mass - the Immemorial Mass - I must drive an hour and a quarter to an out-of-the-way church at Ashhurst, or an hour once a month to a funeral parlour in Napier where Mass is said not by a diocesan priest, but the SSPX. I don't call that "an abundance of access".
But you say it is, in comparison with "people in some parts of the world where they may only see a priest once a year."
Why drag in this red herring, your Eminence? Has it perchance got anything to do with the modernist hierarchy's push for women deacons?
"When we see our loss in this context we are able to be in touch with the global Church, and in solidarity with those who do not have what we are used to having."
Oh, spare me the New World Church, Marxist buzz words. 'Global.' 'Solidarity.' Your people, your Eminence, need to be in touch with Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the Mass and the Sacraments. To be "in solidarity with those who do not have what we are used to having", your people need only do penance and pray for priests. Good, holy priests. I recommend the Prayer of St Therese of Lisieux.
"Many sacrifices are being made in the community in New Zealand and I
think in particular of the people who have not been able to visit their elderly
relatives in rest homes, or have been limited in being with relatives who are
ill or dying."
Thanks, your Eminence. I think we sort of know about that. And then there are the elderly relatives, the ill or dying relatives, themselves. Have the NZ Bishops put up a case with this evil, atheistic Government for these truly "vulnerable" people, people who may be in danger of dying in a state of mortal sin, to insist they receive the Sacraments of Confession and Communion?
"We need to play our part and we have the blessing of understanding that the sacrifices we make have a deeper dimension."
Priests' part in this, your Eminence, is played out at the bedside of the ill and the dying. It is not played out in the privacy of their presbyteries. And such is the standard of preaching in the Novus Ordo that even "the blessing of understanding that the sacrifices we make have a deeper dimension" is an understanding that would escape all but the most faithful Catholics.
Thanks, your Eminence. I think we sort of know about that. And then there are the elderly relatives, the ill or dying relatives, themselves. Have the NZ Bishops put up a case with this evil, atheistic Government for these truly "vulnerable" people, people who may be in danger of dying in a state of mortal sin, to insist they receive the Sacraments of Confession and Communion?
"We need to play our part and we have the blessing of understanding that the sacrifices we make have a deeper dimension."
Priests' part in this, your Eminence, is played out at the bedside of the ill and the dying. It is not played out in the privacy of their presbyteries. And such is the standard of preaching in the Novus Ordo that even "the blessing of understanding that the sacrifices we make have a deeper dimension" is an understanding that would escape all but the most faithful Catholics.
"I can assure you that the bishops through the National Liturgy Office
are in regular contact with the Ministry of Health. They understand our
concerns especially about priests being able to visit the ill or the dying,
whether that involves COVID-19 or another cause."
Oh, fine. "They understand." I'm sorry, but having nice chats just doesn't cut it. The MoH must be persuaded to do something.
If all sorts of businesses can persuade the government that they are essential, why can't the NZ Bishops' Conference do the same? Your service of saving souls is the most essential of all.
The worship of God is the first duty of man. It's the First Commandment. It's not rocket science. Faithful Catholics must be asked to pray and make sacrifices for the Church to be recognised as an essential service.
"We are also in contact with other Christian denominations and are coordinating our actions wherever possible." Why, your Eminence? What have 'other Christian denominations' got to do with the price of fish?
Your concern is surely with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ on earth. 'Other Christian denominations' are neither here nor there. They are well-meaning and do good in their own way, but you and the NZCBC have got more important things to do with your time.
Oh, fine. "They understand." I'm sorry, but having nice chats just doesn't cut it. The MoH must be persuaded to do something.
If all sorts of businesses can persuade the government that they are essential, why can't the NZ Bishops' Conference do the same? Your service of saving souls is the most essential of all.
The worship of God is the first duty of man. It's the First Commandment. It's not rocket science. Faithful Catholics must be asked to pray and make sacrifices for the Church to be recognised as an essential service.
"We are also in contact with other Christian denominations and are coordinating our actions wherever possible." Why, your Eminence? What have 'other Christian denominations' got to do with the price of fish?
Your concern is surely with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ on earth. 'Other Christian denominations' are neither here nor there. They are well-meaning and do good in their own way, but you and the NZCBC have got more important things to do with your time.
"In a week’s time the Prime Minister will make an announcement about
going down to Alert Level 2. In Level 2 public gatherings are allowed indoors
of up to 100 people while maintaining social distancing and meeting contact
tracing requirements. That is the point where we will make decisions about
churches and the provision of Mass in consultation with the Ministry, this will
also include whether or not Churches will be open for private visits,
Reconciliation etc."
If you know what Level 2 dictates are, why have decisions not been made already? If 100 people are allowed in with 'social distancing' dah de dah, why can't Father just unlock the door for private visits? I do assure you that in my neck of the woods at least there will no need in 'private visits' for social distancing.
"Please be aware that numbers may still have to be very strictly controlled."
Please be aware, your Eminence, that the whole Government lockdown set-up is a farce and a disaster, an experiment in social engineering for which your faithful Catholics and your abandoned Eucharistic Lord will hold you partly responsible.
"As I have said above please be aware that priests could be put at risk too, many of whom are elderly and already vulnerable." Priests are supposed to put themselves at risk! They are called to be other Christs! They are called to follow Him to Calvary, not back into the presbytery for a nice cup of tea while your faithful Catholics are left to die in their sins.
If you know what Level 2 dictates are, why have decisions not been made already? If 100 people are allowed in with 'social distancing' dah de dah, why can't Father just unlock the door for private visits? I do assure you that in my neck of the woods at least there will no need in 'private visits' for social distancing.
"Please be aware that numbers may still have to be very strictly controlled."
Please be aware, your Eminence, that the whole Government lockdown set-up is a farce and a disaster, an experiment in social engineering for which your faithful Catholics and your abandoned Eucharistic Lord will hold you partly responsible.
"As I have said above please be aware that priests could be put at risk too, many of whom are elderly and already vulnerable." Priests are supposed to put themselves at risk! They are called to be other Christs! They are called to follow Him to Calvary, not back into the presbytery for a nice cup of tea while your faithful Catholics are left to die in their sins.
"This situation will pass." When, your Eminence? How long will this socialist, lefty Government keep us under house arrest? As long as it suits them. When will you and the NZ Bishops' Conference wake up to reality?
"There will be many people who need help because of the effect that the situation has had on their health and income." What about the many people who need the help only you, your Eminence, and your fellow bishops, and your priests, can give? Mass, and the Sacraments?
"We need to be ready to respond to the needs of others in any way we can."
Our Lord calls you to be ready to respond by way of the Mass and the Sacraments. Leave the other ways to the many of your faithful Catholics who can do them better.
"This crisis has revealed the characters of bishops and priests: which ones are fully conformed to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And which ones have shown themselves to be hirelings, who flee at the sight of danger and who put boulders at the entryway of the sheepfold" - the 'Braveheart Priest'.
"There will be many people who need help because of the effect that the situation has had on their health and income." What about the many people who need the help only you, your Eminence, and your fellow bishops, and your priests, can give? Mass, and the Sacraments?
"We need to be ready to respond to the needs of others in any way we can."
Our Lord calls you to be ready to respond by way of the Mass and the Sacraments. Leave the other ways to the many of your faithful Catholics who can do them better.
"This crisis has revealed the characters of bishops and priests: which ones are fully conformed to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And which ones have shown themselves to be hirelings, who flee at the sight of danger and who put boulders at the entryway of the sheepfold" - the 'Braveheart Priest'.
 |
| The Braveheart Priest, in falling snow |
Bob Gill says:
ReplyDeleteAre we re-opening the churches at Level 2, or what? As has been pointed out, the distress of missing out on the Sacraments has been suffered by parishioners only – not the priests. Surely any bishop or priest with genuine concern for their parishioners would be only too anxious to ease pain by directly indicating details of their plan for when we re-open the churches, regardless of what level that will be. After some 6 weeks in hibernation, bishops have had plenty of time to formulate various scenarios for when parishioners gain re-entry – and that includes time they’ve saved in ignoring emails/letters that have been sent to them on a number of matters by concerned parishioners.
In the meantime, kudos to the overseas bishops and priests, and the single NZ priest from my experience, who have actively demonstrated empathy for the suffering followers of Christ through their innovative ways of administering needed Sacraments and blessings. These have my admiration and help keep my faith in the Catholic Church.
But Bob... talking to some people it's not painful to not go to Mass. It's lovely to have Mass streamed into your home..this could be the way of the future.. no expensive bulidings to maintain. No having to shake dirty hands, have flu or common cold people breathe near you or God forbid, cough. We would only need a couole of priests per area. You csn baptise your children yourself...confession over the phone. Lockdown has shown us how little we actually need church. There are so few people who really want to get back to Mass. They happy with status quo until they get their virus shot.
DeleteSharon Crooks says:
ReplyDeleteFr Joe (Grayland) texted me early on in lock-down regarding Our Lord being locked ‘in’ the Tabernacle, per your last point in the introduction to your blog.
I told Fr Joe I wanted to spend time with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament (inside or outside the church - it didn’t matter too much to me!). I assumed in doing so I am spending time with Our Lord Jesus, whose Presence on earth was as the Son of Man and the Son of God. I referred to Our Lord as ‘locked in’ believing His Presence in the Tabernacle is ‘Person-al’ but Fr Joe said (and I think he speaks for many Catholics on the matter) something very ‘im-personal’ about Our Lord’s Presence: “The cosmic Christ (St Paul) the second person of the blessed trinity (Nicea) is present in the blessed sacrament but he is not trapped and lonely in the tabernacle- that’s nonsense! God is present in the whole of creation and The Eucharist presence is clearly true, unique and also universal. (...) I am speaking as a pastor of souls that the concept of Jesus being a prisoner or lockdowned is simply not correct.”
In my opinion, one only need to spend some time with Our Lord to know that He IS there, in Person, and we are not tapping into some ‘Cosmic Christ’, however when I defended myself and Our Lord, Fr Joe reminded me that I should not project my “anthrophrocentric feelings onto a Cosmic eternal divine person”.
I never did that though. I simply loved the Lord Jesus, human and divine, in the Blessed Sacrament. I don’t know where to find this ‘new theology’; I certainly haven’t come across the likes in my reading of the lives of the Saints, especially the lives of those who had a devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. I have never read about a saint having a devotion to the ‘Cosmic Christ’!
God bless you, Sharon. Your allegiance to the good Lord is obvious. Take heart too that this is the Month of Mary and as she said at Fatima: “I will never forsake you.”
ReplyDeleteI believe it is cowardly of the bishops to use the excuses they have to keep the doors on the churches locked. There is no logical reason why they couldn't unlock the doors to allow those of us who wish to spend time in adoration before Our Lord from doing so. How hard would it be to provide a bottle on sanitiser at the entrance to the church and ask faithful Catholics to keep the "required distancing" from any others faithful Catholics who are there at the same time. Our bishops need to be reminded of the priests from the past who provided communion, and extreme unction to soldiers fighting in the trenches. They did not refuse the sacraments because this is what they were called to do. No hiding in the presbytery for those priests.
ReplyDeleteOur cardinal needs to remember what is the purpose of their vocation, to provide the faithful with the sacraments and to save souls from eternal damnation.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePhilippa O'Neill says:
ReplyDeleteI've seen (a petition to reopen churches) in NZ. I'll try find it. Priest told me yesterday that they won't unlock any churches until the Bishops Conference says so. Such power! How did this happen? I can respect the office but not the decisions coming from it!
Bob Gill says:
I bet you had to ask the question and that he didn't first offer you that information, Philippa.
I can't understand why our bishops and priests are prepared for some of us thinking the worst about them. They made such a song and dance about us calling them by their Christian names you'd think they'd be only too willing to keep us updated with information in an effort to maintain....whatever was hoped for by addressing them by first names.
I say: None of that palsy-walsy first-name-calling in the SSPX.
Philippa O'Neill says:
No Bob... he actually brought the subject up with me! I didn't mention it first. Probably because we had offered to lock and unlock the church doors for him as he is over 70. But no... all churches are to stay locked and even the priests were not to enter. Yes.. you are reading this right. Have to ask yourself.. who is running the NZCBC? We also know that the NZCBC made a decision to run with the environment as a cause at the expense of the unborn... hence a huge lack of info at parish level regarding one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world. At my parish you would be hard pressed to know anything had been before parliament. That tells me that the NZCBC is firmly in the Labour, NZ First, Greens pocket... there is no other way to explain it.
ReplyDeleteBob Gill says:
Priest Andy Penne carried the Blessed Sacrament through streets in Belgium. Thank goodness we have some real priests in the world. God bless him and all like him. Question is: Why don't we see some of this action in NZ?
Philippa O'Neill says:
The Filipino priest in Whanganui went on a walk with the Divine Mercy Picture.
Barry Reynolds says: A petition (to reopen churches) has already been sent - took ages to get 500 signatures, and answer came back, will be re-evaluated in Level 2.
I say:
Is that Stella McLeod's petition?
Stella McLeod says: I didn’t start one, I only shared one someone else started. Here it is and it is just over 500. The response to it on the Catholic Women page I shared it to was disappointing.
https://www.change.org/.../catholic-bishops-of-new...
Sign the Petition
CHANGE.ORG
Philippa O'Neill says:
Is that Catholic Women Connect? Run by liberal left wing women? If so then I'm not surprised. They probably 'hid' it.
Julia du Fresne Oh, bless that Fr Nathaniel Brazil, displaying Divine Mercy in Whanganui. He deserves our prayers!
I had no idea that Father Brazil went on a walk with the Divine Mercy picture (the Filipino reference seems to indicate it was him). Why didn't the Catholic media in NZ report this - the kind of thing we'd like to acknowledge and have us feel we are getting some support? Things like this would help stop us thinking the NZ Catholic Church has deserted us completely at this time.
DeletePhilippa O'Neill says:
ReplyDeleteSo does the ex Dunedin priest Fr Vaughan Leslie. He's with him now.
I say:
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone had the gumption to petition the bishops. But the bishops should have made, and should now still be making, a watertight case for the Church and Sacraments to be rated an essential service.
And I couldn't sign a petition recommending the Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour be handed out in plastic bags. That truly awful idea has been debunked by Cardinal Sarah: see my yesterday's post, PORKIES HOWLERS AND WHOPPERS:CATHNEWS AND JACINDA ARDERN at chhttps://juliadufresne.blogspot.com/
Stella McLeod says:
ReplyDeletePhilippa, no they didn’t because I copied the link from there, but it generated some discussion and based on some of what was said, I think maybe the bishops will need to do some solid Catholic teaching to get some people back to physically attending Mass now that we’re all become accustomed to going online. Bishops should be in the frontline of protesting what is going on, NOT (hopefully unintentionally) backing the destruction of families and livelihoods, helping to implement local dictatorships, plans for a one world governance and the development of a potentially deadly vaccine!
Bob Gill says:
ReplyDeleteI had no idea (about Fr Brazil taking Divine Mercy for a walk) which is not surprising because events like that which are normal overseas don't seem to be reported in NZ, and have certainly not been reported in local Catholic news that I've read during lockdown.
Philippa O'Neill says:
ReplyDeleteThere is a lovely article in the NZ Catholic mag. Both priests held an online talk about their callings to priesthood too. It was lovely. I'm so glad to see Fr Vaughan Leslie happy up there. He's a good priest.
I say:
Maybe the reason Fr Leslie's happy is the presence of the SSPX priests in Whanganui. How affirming that would be.