ARDERN'S REIGN OF TERROR PART TWO: NZ BISHOPS' EAGER RESPONSE

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Jacinda Ardern's Reign of Terror Part Two is well under way. It was heralded on Tuesday night by smart phones going berserk, blasting New Zealand citizens unceremoniously out of their sleep.

And New Zealand's Catholic Bishops obediently and immediately snapped to attention.

The unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette, guillotined in the original (French Revolution's) Reign of Terror

 

And here's what bishops had to say, the very next day:

"Tēnā koutou Priests and Parish Leadership, 

Why 'Tena koutou'? Straight away the bishops lead us into the realms of political correctness and Labour-leaning Maori separatism. What's wrong with "Dear Priests etc"? Most Massgoers in New Zealand speak English, and many speak only English. It would be more charitable and representative to say "Mahal" or "Namaste": more Massgoers would be Filipino or Indian than Maori, and of Maori Massgoers, how many speak te reo?  

Following the announcements that the Auckland Region has moved to Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country to Alert Level 2 from noon today, we write to you about the pastoral implications...

Stop right there. 

What kind of 'pastoral' implications should be indicated by a bug which has caused 14 deaths? What kind of 'pastoral implications' have been indicated to the bishops in the past by flu, which kills 500 people a year? None. So why do they see the need for 'pastoral implications' with COVID-19? Because the Labour Coalition Government sees the need - the same Government which mandated a world-beating, latter-day massacre of the innocents.   

...The Government has promised to give updates ...

Promises, promises: the Government promised that we had plenty of flu vaccine, too.  

"Ministry of Health emails, released under the Official Information Act, reveal a number of conversations explicitly discussing low stock levels and struggles to fulfil orders.

"That includes a Pharmac staff member emailing the ministry saying on April 29: "...have you been briefing the Minister’s office on the flu vaccine stock levels, including that we are very low on stock now until the next delivery?"

"Yes we have been," the ministry replied.The next day an email to the ministry said: "I am not sure there will even be enough stock to over last nights’ orders."

"It came as Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield encouraged Kiwis to get the vaccination on April 29, and Finance Minister Grant Robertson assured there was availability on May 1.

"However, there were also waves of emails to the ministry from doctors struggling to get their hands on stock. Alison Richards, of Working Health, said she was yelling at her television: "That's not right! I had 2500 people waiting for the flu vaccines and I didn't have stock," she said.

"The 1 NEWS investigation discovered that at the height of the problem, more than 1000 vaccines were lost - sent to the wrong city - and by the time they were found they were useless.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/1-news-investigation-emails-reveal-ministrys-flu-vaccine-shortage-worries-despite-opposite-message-public

And what's more: "GPs are fighting the Government to deliver on $22 million in funding they believe was promised to keep running during the COVID-19 crisis, but Newshub understands the Ministry of Health messed up in promising the funding in the first place. They have apparently been short-changed by the Government after an expected payment of $22.5 million was pulled due to what Newshub understands was a Ministry of Health blunder."https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/04/coronavirus-gps-fighting-government-to-deliver-on-22-million-they-believe-was-promised.html

We will provide additional updates as needed.

The bishops mean, as needed by the Government - to keep the citizenry under tight control. 

Under Alert Level 3, Churches (sic) must close ...

WOT? Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches as well as Catholic, do they mean? In a letter addressed only to Catholics, the bishops sound like they're minding someone else's business. Overreaching, just a tad.  

 ... except for small, private weddings and funerals of up to 10 people. Physical distancing and public health measures must be maintained.

Why? Because the Gummint says so. 

Under Alert Level 2, religious gatherings are restricted to a maximum of 100 people. It will be up to dioceses and parishes to decide whether weekday or Sunday Mass can continue with this restriction.

That's easily decided: celebrate more Masses.  

It may not be possible to have 100 people in a small church. Not all parishioners will be able to attend Mass in many larger parishes.

They could if bishops and priests were prepared to celebrate more Masses. 

Others will not attend due to health reasons, concerns or fears. For these reasons, the dispensation of attendance at Sunday Mass will be in place.

Sunday Mass attendance is always automatically dispensed for genuine 'health reasons'. There's no need for a 'dispensation of attendance at Sunday Mass' on those grounds. As for 'concerns or fears', these have been whipped up by Ardern, aided and abetted by the MSM and the bishops themselves, by taking what the Gummint says as Gospel, you might say. Certainly the bishops are more assiduous in spreading the Gospel of the Reign of Terror than the Reign of Christ the King who said, Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Mt 11:28). We can't come to Him in churches that are closed - by His shepherds. 

During Alert Level 2, Mass restrictions are: • At the Sign of Peace, people should avoid shaking hands or other contact with one another, and instead smile, nod or bow to one another.

So get rid of the Sign of Peace. The Church got on famously for nearly 2000 years without grinning and grimacing and bowing and scraping at the time in the Mass needed to prepare to receive the Eucharist. 

Holy Communion is not to be distributed from the chalice.

Good! It's completely unnecessary; we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord whole and entire in the Host. Distributing from the chalice simply gives an opportunity to lay people (mostly women of the 'in' crowd) with ideas above their station to implement their ambitions and show off their best jeans. 

Communion is only to be distributed in the hand, not on the tongue.

This is where it gets really nasty. Given that there are no practical or common sense reasons of hygiene or anything else to indicate Communion in the hand is more 'sanitary' or 'safe' (quite the reverse, in fact) one can only suppose that the bishops' motivation is to discourage Communion on the tongue (the universal Church practice until the late '60s when rebellious clergy decided otherwise) or - more sinister - to deter people from attending the Latin Mass where Communion on the tongue is mandatory. 

During the Reign of Terror Part One, NO people increasingly found refuge in the Latin Mass due to the excellence of the live-streamed Masses and the sermons that went with them. Methinks the bishops don't want it catching on: the Latin Mass and its priests show them up so clearly.   

 

Asperges me, Domine

 

Holy water is to be removed from vessels at the church door.

Sillier and sillier. We realise that the New Mass was designed for the lowest common denominator, but are we really such dolts that if we don't want to dip our fingers in the font we don't have to? Oh sorry, not fonts, 'vessels'. Fonts, after all, is rather ecclesiastical in tone, a bit High Anglican for the bishops' liking, perhaps. 

Does this look like a 'vessel' to you?

"Holy water has the power to forgive venial sins. When we turn to God and remember our baptism, in which we vowed to reject sin and satan, our sins are forgiven. And holy water prepares us to receive the sacraments. 

"Demons hate holy water. St. Teresa of Avila once said, “I have found by experience that there is nothing from which the devils fly more quickly than from holy water. They also fly from the cross, but they return almost immediately. Certainly, the power of holy water must be great; for my part, my soul feels particular comfort in taking it, and very generally a refreshment and interior delight which I cannot express” (Autobiography)." 

https://catholicgentleman.net/2013/12/spiritual-weapons-holy-water/ 

Should any part of the country be returned to Alert Level 1 (subject to any changes in Government policy for this level) our advice will continue that Mass may recommence so long as Ministry of Health guidelines are met; ...

Government policy, Ministry of Health guidelines: that's what seems to matter to the NZ Bishops' Conference now, not the Magisterium of the Church which teaches that it's the salvation of souls, not the preservation of lives, which must be the bishops' chief concern: "Our most important affair is that of our eternal salvation; upon it depends our happiness or misery for ever" (St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori). 

... any Mass and Communion restrictions are to be determined by the diocese or parish.

This is an exercise in buck-passing. Following the desertion of their posts in the Reign of Terror Part One, the NZ Conference of Bishops both severally and collectively earned heaps of opprobrium from faithful Catholics. 

So they said to one another, "This is what we'll do next time, we'll leave it to each of us to decide what to do, and if any of us can't/won't decide, we can get the parish to decide." With a wave of their croziers they've transformed the Church in New Zealand from a hierarchy to a democracy. The poor PP doesn't get a mention; all it will take is one bully on the parish council whipping the rest into line, and 'Mass and Communion restrictions are ... determined'.  

We know this is a challenging time for many people...

Not too challenging for the bishops and priests surely, once they've locked their churches. They'll still give Our Lord to themselves in the Eucharist. The people who'll be challenged are:

• lay people in love with their Eucharistic Lord  
• lay people who depend on their Eucharistic community
• lay people who are frightened
• lay people who are sick at home or in hospital 
• lay people who are elderly, maybe dying, and not allowed to see their family and friends; I was told of one today who has only days to live, and whose daughter is not allowed to see her. 

This is not 'being kind'. Like this Government's Abortion Legislation Act, it's cruelty.

But if bishops and priests try to meet all these needs, as a shepherd must meet the needs of his hungry, sick or injured flock, they'll surely be challenged, as they should be.

... the more so because this reimposing of restrictions follows more than 100 days of national hope and gratitude for the absence of community transmission.

In the absence of unreported 'community transmission', the bishops must mean. Do they seriously think that everyone with COVID-19 symptoms dashes to their doctor, to be jabbed and 'self-isolate' or be banged up in quarantine with Mr Plod patrolling the perimeters to nab anyone who 'escapes'? Yeah right.

Our thanks and prayers go to you all for your wonderful work and witness during this pandemic. 

Shamdemic. Plandemic. 

 

Cardinal John Dew quotes 'kind' babykiller Jacinda Ardern in his Facebook post - again

 

And then the day after the Bishops do their knee-jerk thing to the Gummint, Cardinal Dew fronts up on Facebook:

The change in the COVID-19 Alert Levels in New Zealand has led us once again to having to think carefully about our behaviour. What we would normally do, what we want to do, may not be the safest action for ourselves or for others. For some of us it may be about daring, pushing the boundaries of the restrictions. For others the situation may engender crippling fear, especially if we are in a vulnerable group. St Thomas Aquinas identifies fortitude as the virtue that moderates the emotions of fear and daring in accordance with reason, keeping a balance between them. It is the virtue which leads us to do the right thing, even in the midst of hardship and restriction. This weekend when Masses are suspended in the Archdiocese of Wellington ...

WOT? Who said anything about the Land of Mordor being placed on Level 3? Does the Archdiocese of Wellington include Palmerston North Diocese again, like in the Reign of Terror Part One, or what?  

... take time to reflect with the readings, especially the gospel (Matthew 15:21-28). The Canaanite woman would have been afraid to step forward in the crowd but dared to persevere in seeking help for her daughter. We need the virtue of fortitude so we can do the right thing for ourselves and our neighbours during the pandemic.

Too right! Bishops and priests are dire need of the virtue of fortitude - which is also a gift of the Holy Spirit.

St Thomas Aquinas identifies fortitude as the virtue that moderates the emotions of fear and daring in accordance with reason, keeping a balance between them. It is the virtue which leads us to do the right thing, even in the midst of hardship and restriction."

 But then again, Father Reginald Martin O P says:

"Fortitude is particularly concerned with strengthening our will in the face of death, which is the greatest bodily evil we can suffer. By helping us to face death without fear, Fortitude necessarily enables us to confront with some degree of calm and assurance all those other, lesser fears and temptations toward weakness that frequently beset us. As we look at the saints, our examples in faith, we attribute the greatest Fortitude to the martyrs, those who offered up - or lost - their lives for their belief." 

Martyrs such as St Maximilian Kolbe,whose feast we celebrate today. And I'm so pleased to see Cardinal Dew quoting St Thomas - who also says: " An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”

Many laws passed by this evil Labour Coalition Government (and named in the post I had to delete but which so clearly showed that the NZ Bishops, were they truly Catholic, and possessed true fortitude, ought to endorse New Conservatives in Election 2020) are unjust.

"‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’

“Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law". https://isi.org/intercollegiate-review/an-unjust-law-is-no-law-at-all-excerpts-from-letter-from-birmingham-jail/

 

I am indebted to Cardinal Dew's Facebook page for the image above of "the Pompallier Madonna", so-called because it was brought to New Zealand by Bishop Pompallier, mid-19th century. The Cardinal says in his latest post that:

"During the Level 4 Covid-19 lockdown the New Zealand Bishops had many requests from people asking us to consecrate New Zealand to Mary using the title “Mary, Queen of the World” or “The Immaculate Heart of Mary”. Most of those people were very surprised when the bishops responded that New Zealand is already consecrated to Mary, and that it is celebrated on the Solemnity of the Assumption, our country’s patronal feast day (15 August). At the end of the first Mass Bishop Pompallier celebrated in Aotearoa New Zealand, on 13 January 1838, at Hokianga, he dedicated the country to Mary under the title of her Assumption."

That consecration may well be the reason why New Zealand has not - yet - suffered the consequences of our evil abortion law in the way that Victoria Australia is doing. 

Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the feast of your Assumption body and soul into Heaven, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.