Joy Joy Joy (ba humbug rant of the day)

so the Catholic bishops of the US are meeting to push the idea of "the joy of the gospel". EWTN is broadcasting lots of the stuff going on there, if you are really interested.

Reaching out to the "peripheries"...."let's get moving for Jesus"...





why does that theme remind me of this:

Yes, happy happy happy. And of course "inclusive" to everyone except ubercatholics like Michael Voris, the Andrew Breitbart of the Catholic church...
 for example, this article dares to discuss the stuff they won't be discussing at the happy happy "joy of the gospel" meeting:

Notable are the topics not on the docket, including the homosexual crisis in the Church, including tackling sex abuse by ceasing to allow so-called "transitory" gay men to remain in seminaries. They won't be discussing liturgical abuses happening regularly across the country. They won't be addressing the sacrilege that occurs when pro-abortion politicians, active homosexuals and divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive Holy Communion.
Likewise, there won't be discussion on increasing the holiness of leaders by prayer and sacrifice so that they can inspire others to be holy by their sacrificial lifestyle. Finally, they won't be talking about saving souls from Hell by preaching and teaching the Faith in clear and unambiguous terms 

so WTF are they discusing? Social justice matters, of course. No personal sin here, folks, just look the other way.

This interview is not encouraging to me.

“Maybe it’s too prosaic to say it, but I also think [the purpose of the convocation] to bring the Church together and say, ‘We are one in Jesus’,” DiNardo said.

“We can do something with that, even in light of so many ups and downs, the various parts of the country we have, the various points of view, the ‘nones,’ the millennials whatever,” he sai

 Cliche cliche cliche without actually saying anything.

and confusion is good for you, dontcha know?

• Said that while he doesn’t necessarily detect a “Francis effect” in terms of increased numbers at Mass, there certainly is “a positive image of the Catholic Church because of Francis.” That image, he said, sometimes is also a “teaching moment,” because it comes bundled with the impression that he’s overturning the Church’s “old, tired rules,” something DiNardo said the pope isn’t actually doing.

so why not tell the Pope to clarify things? Nope. Guess it's not a good idea to rock the boat.

And I am not encouraged in this report from a Jesuit magazine:

As Mr. Paige sees it, the Orlando gathering will show Catholics across the country that the “church is in a state of constant evaluation.”
And his verdict is that the church is not experiencing all that God intends, which leaves room for more to happen.

Translation: don't forget: we need to "evaluate" all those old fashioned morals because morality lite is in. Who am I to judge?

(uh, millstone anyone?)
(So when Francis ridicules those who quietly try to live an ethical life, while ignoring the pedophilia and drugs in his back yard, excuse me for not taking him seriously... and that doesn't even include the scandal at the Vatican Bank).

Cliches and barf alert please.

yes, I'm sure the bishop is a "goodguy" even though he worked in Pittsburgh under Wuerl when I lived nearby in Altoona. But I'm sure he is a good man.

but cliches tend to make me barf.

HELLO! If I get nauseous with this politically correct gobbly gook, how many real seekers of God will bother to listen to you?

without personal holiness, or the experience of pain, why should we listen to your cliches?

Reality check:

As one teen movie insisted: .

 "That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt."

from this movie for those of you who don't have teenagers.




the point is that yes, Jesus could be the answer: But not the Cliche Plastic Jesus (and in the movie, all these kids tend to hear is happy cliches, both religious and secular).

Tagore once wrote:

“When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.”

Catherine Doherty once met Tagore when she was rich, and asked him why he wasn't a Christian, and he said: Because I'm waiting for you to become one... (and she did).

So, bishops, I'm waiting for you to become a Christian.

And present the Jesus who could say: Been there, done that