"The Government has allowed you, Bishops, to open the churches and celebrate the Mass - but you have chosen to deny the faithful Holy Mass, and the graces that come from it."
The tom-toms are telling us New Zealand's bishops are in receipt of many angry letters from laity, complaining of their inertia in the face of the Jacinda Juggernaut.
Here is one such, from Palmerston North layman Michael Fitzgibbon, prefaced by a few pertinent comments.
"Public Mass under Alert Level 2
"When we
first heard that New Zealand would be moving to Alert Level 2 and that groups
of up to 100 people would be allowed, many of us breathed a sigh of relief. But
the government restricted religious services to only 10 people.
"Yet 16 people
can play rugby, and strip clubs can have up to 100 people, not including the
strippers. We have been singled out and denied rights every other group has under
Alert Level 2.
"While we
could still have public Masses with up to 10 people, the Bishops concluded that allowing such Masses would put an intolerable
burden on priests, who would have to decide who those people would be out of
potentially many hundreds who would want to attend.
"This is a ludicrous idea.
Add extra Masses! Thousands of faithful per week could participate in the Holy
Sacrifice of Mass. Ten people per mass is better than none.
"A letter to our Bishops
"Below is the letter I sent to our Bishops last
Thursday:
"Good Evening dear Bishops,
I have read and re-read your letter dated May 12 re church
activities in restricted Alert Level 2.
"The Government has allowed you to open churches and celebrate Holy Mass, but you have chosen to deny the faithful access to the Mass and its graces. The limit of ten people imposed by the Government is
still ten souls who can participate in the celebration of Holy Mass. That
is ten faithful for every Mass celebrated.
"Public Mass is possible but you have chosen not to celebrate it.
You have chosen to deny Christ His Mass. Christ will hold you accountable for
this, as He will hold us accountable for allowing this to happen.
"When you were ordained as Bishops you gave your word to Christ to be His good shepherds. You
must restart the public celebrations of Mass now! Ten people is better than
none.
"Funeral directors managed to get the number for funerals increased to 50 people, and bars are allowed 100. Did they just lobby harder than you?
"The Government has dictated a different standard for religious
services from that applied to everyone else. They have singled Christians out and
arbitrarily denied us our religious freedom. This is a breach of the Bill of Rights.
"You must get a lawyer and take this to the
courts.
"I will pray for you.
(signed)
Michael Fitzgibbon
Palmerston North
But wait, there's more:
"In a reply to this letter I was told that our bishops
wrote to the Prime Minister asking for the limit of 10 to be increased.
Additionally, Cardinal John Dew and Bishop Pat Dunn took part in a multi-faith video
meeting with the Prime Minister urging this be done.
"Jacinda Ardern is a hard core Marxist, so asking nicely was never going to work. We
need to demand to be treated like every other group, not allow ourselves to be
singled out and targeted for active measures.
"If the Government won’t treat us
like everyone else, then New Zealand's bishops need to take our case to the courts.
"Our bishops took an oath to be good shepherds and
protect the faithful from wolves, not to run and hide. They need to start taking
action like good shepherds."
And now Bruce Tichbon of Palmerston North joins the fray:
"Why do our bishops always give us less, not more? They shut our churches before they needed to, they deny us full Communion (in the hand only), and now they won’t restart Mass when they could.
"In the meantime, the negative attitude of this Government to Christianity becomes more and more evident. The Government is letting everything else function, from restaurants to shops, but they are effectively shutting down churches.
"Could these actions be construed as a ‘hate crime’? Should we complain to the Human Rights Commission, or the United Nations?
"Why do our bishops always give us less, not more? They shut our churches before they needed to, they deny us full Communion (in the hand only), and now they won’t restart Mass when they could.
"In the meantime, the negative attitude of this Government to Christianity becomes more and more evident. The Government is letting everything else function, from restaurants to shops, but they are effectively shutting down churches.
"Could these actions be construed as a ‘hate crime’? Should we complain to the Human Rights Commission, or the United Nations?
"Or is it just
too hard for the bishops? I hear schools are in a state of huge confusion
over how to open. My own parish is well supplied with medical
professionals and experienced business managers who are enthusiastic about helping our priests celebrate Mass in a manner that is low risk and
complies with government health and safety rules. But 'no can do'!
"Our God-given
immune systems will solve this crisis in the end. But the machinations of
politicians and committees don’t seem to be adding any value."
From Evening Prayer II for today, for the Common of One Martyr (St Dymphna):
From Evening Prayer II for today, for the Common of One Martyr (St Dymphna):
St Dymphna of Ireland beheaded by her father |
I trusted, even when I said:
'I am sorely afflicted,'
and when I said in my alarm:
'No man can be trusted.'
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord's name.
-Psalm 115 (116)
Sharon Crooks says:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=626358&fbclid=IwAR1zlNeWA_RKIlpWzQFjWreIRVQ9KZrUTHzwDEnG3ytA1WhhMG8ls_h57gI
This is how easy it would be. I suggested to Cardinal John Dew that every priest offer three Masses a day here, using an online booking system. It would mean that 840 slots could be opened up for people to attend a PNth Mass each week. He said 'no', priests are too busy. Busy doing what I wonder? I haven't heard from my local PNth parish priests, whilst another text me a range of messages about a Cosmic Christ when I wanted to be with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament - outside in the open air - and then he locked the gates and posted the pics on Facebook. Same priest refused to say one Mass a day and went out on a Eucharistic fast.
Philippa O'Neill says:
That's disgusting.
Sharon Crooks says:
That’s the world we live in!
The strip club down the road is banning lap dancing but they will reopen next week and the manager will put cold-hard cash thrown on stage into the tumble drier to sanitise - I kid you not.
Any church pushing for more sanitising instead of more holy water should probably stay shut anyway Phillippa, as one of my good friends suggested today, lest we bow down to pagans.
As it is, our pagan leaders are determining if/when we will worship, having taken over from God!
Bob Gill says:
Perhaps the NZ bishops are planning something like this during their continuing exile:
https://www.vaticannews.va/.../bishops-to-entrust...
Bishops to entrust Australia to Mary Help of Christians - Vatican News.
Bob Gill says:
ReplyDeleteApart from SSPX parishes, which other parishes are holding Mass, Philippa?
Maria Fischer says:
Philippa, where are they holding mass in Dunedin??!!
Maria Fischer says:
I can't find details anywhere in the emails the diocese has sent us as to where these Masses are.
Philippa O'Neill says:
They aren't as far as I know.
SSPX and one other priest is streaming to people then giving Holy Communion after Mass... up north somewhere... certainly not in Dunedin that I've heard of.
I say:
Very sadly, the SSPX had to give up their hopes for a house Mass in the Bay instead of their usual Third Sunday Mass at a funeral parlour (!) in Napier, which the funeral directors very understandably would not allow.
SSPX said govt regs are so changeable and contradictory they made a house Mass impossible.
So they'll be flat out at a private chapel in Wellington (with hostile neighbours) and St Anthony's Whanganui, making Mass available to as many as possible.
The Latin Mass celebrated 'ad orientem' gives them the strength and courage that our bishops and diocesan priests conspicuously lack.