01-08-2024, 07:48 AM
From the pro-Conciliar publication, Crux Now..
Crux Now [Emphasis - The Catacombs] |Jan 6, 2024
ROME – Pope Francis on the feast of the Epiphany lamented the sharp division among Catholics of differing views, saying believers must imitate the three wise men in putting God at the center of their lives, rather than their own ideas of the faith.
Speaking to attendees of his Jan. 6 Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope said that as members of the church, “instead of splitting into groups based on our own ideas, we are called to put God back at the center.”
“We need to abandon ecclesial ideologies [i.e. tradition - The Catacombs] to find the meaning of holy mother church, the ecclesial attitude. Ecclesial ideologies no, ecclesial vocation yes,” he said, saying, “The Lord, not our own ideas or our own projects,” must be the focus.
“Let us set out anew from God; let us seek from him the courage not to lose heart in the face of difficulties, the strength to surmount all obstacles, the joy to live in harmonious communion,” he said.
The pontiff’s comments came amid a burgeoning controversy over a recent Vatican declaration permitting non-liturgical blessings of same-sex unions, which has revealed strong divisions within Catholicism.
Pope Francis spoke during his Mass for the Catholic feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the biblical narrative when the three Magi, also called the Three Wise Men or the “Three Kings,” follow a star that leads them to Jesus and the discovery of his identity as the Messiah. [...]
Pope Francis in his homily said the Magi are a reflection of the world’s peoples who are “journeying in search of God…of all those who were lost and now hear the beckoning of a friendly voice.”
Focusing on three aspects of the biblical narrative of the Magi, Francis noted that they are described as having their “eyes are raised to the heavens.”
The Magi “do not pass their lives staring at their feet, self-absorbed, confined by earthly horizons, plodding ahead in resignation or lamentation,” but rather, they “lift their heads high and await the light that can illumine the meaning of their lives,” he said.
“If we remain closed in the narrow confines of earthly things, if we waste away, heads bowed, hostages of our failures and our regrets; if we thirst for wealth and worldly comforts rather than becoming seekers of life and love, our life slowly loses its light,” he said.
What the Magi illustrate is the necessity to fix one’s eyes on heaven in order to discover the meaning of life, the pope said, saying humanity needs God’s word and friendship to move forward.
“We need to set out on this journey, so that our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance, but will instead become a fire burning within us, making us passionate seekers of the Lord’s face and witnesses to his Gospel,” he said.
Francis then lamented that the church is often split into groups based on various interpretations of the faith and stressed the importance of communion, saying God must be at the center of faith, rather than one’s own ideas about it.
Noting how the Magi also completed a journey on earth, the pope said they chose to follow God’s sign in the star, and ultimately their journey culminates in finding God “in man, in a little Child lying in a manger.”
“That is where the God who is infinitely great has revealed himself: in the little, the infinitely little,” he said, and stressed the importance of journeying in the world as witnesses to the Gospel.
Jesus was given to the world, Pope Francis said, “not to warm our nights, but to let rays of light break through the dark shadows that envelop so many situations in our societies.”
In this sense, he said God is found “not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life, and above all in encountering and touching the flesh of our brothers and sisters,” just as the Magi themselves found a real child.
“This is important: to find God in flesh and bone, in the faces of those we meet each day, and especially in the poor,” Francis said, saying this encounter with God opens faithful to something bigger and “makes us change our way of life and transform our world.” [Read more here.]
From the secular AP News...
VATICAN CITY (AP [Emphasis - The Catacombs]) — Amid resistance to some Vatican policy by more conservative factions of the Catholic church, Pope Francis on Saturday cautioned the faithful against fracturing into groups “based on our own ideas.”
He issued the call to abandon “ecclesiastical ideologies” in his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica during Epiphany Day Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday.
Francis also warned against “basking in some elegant religious theory” instead of finding God in the faces of the poor.
Last month, Francis gave permission for priests to bless couples outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships, as long as the blessing was pastoral and not liturgical or part of some religious rite.
Some bishops who view Francis as a dangerous progressive immediately rejected such blessings. That prompted the Vatican earlier this week to issue a statement stressing that the blessings don’t constitute heresy and there were no doctrinal grounds to reject the practice.
Francis in his Epiphany homily didn’t cite the pushback against his same-sex blessings policy. But he deviated from the written text of the homily to cite the “need to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies.”
Francis said the Church needed to ensure that “our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance.”
“We find the God who comes down to visit us, not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life,” especially in the faces of the poor, the pontiff said.
The pontiff, who turned 87 last month and who battled health problems last year, held up well during the Epiphany ceremony, which included singing of Christmas hymns. At the end of the 90-minute service, an aide wheeled Francis down the basilica’s center aisle. The pope has a chronic knee problem and uses a wheelchair to navigate longer distances. [...]
Amid row over same-sex blessings, Pope laments ‘splitting into groups’ in the Church
Crux Now [Emphasis - The Catacombs] |Jan 6, 2024
ROME – Pope Francis on the feast of the Epiphany lamented the sharp division among Catholics of differing views, saying believers must imitate the three wise men in putting God at the center of their lives, rather than their own ideas of the faith.
Speaking to attendees of his Jan. 6 Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope said that as members of the church, “instead of splitting into groups based on our own ideas, we are called to put God back at the center.”
“We need to abandon ecclesial ideologies [i.e. tradition - The Catacombs] to find the meaning of holy mother church, the ecclesial attitude. Ecclesial ideologies no, ecclesial vocation yes,” he said, saying, “The Lord, not our own ideas or our own projects,” must be the focus.
“Let us set out anew from God; let us seek from him the courage not to lose heart in the face of difficulties, the strength to surmount all obstacles, the joy to live in harmonious communion,” he said.
The pontiff’s comments came amid a burgeoning controversy over a recent Vatican declaration permitting non-liturgical blessings of same-sex unions, which has revealed strong divisions within Catholicism.
Pope Francis spoke during his Mass for the Catholic feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the biblical narrative when the three Magi, also called the Three Wise Men or the “Three Kings,” follow a star that leads them to Jesus and the discovery of his identity as the Messiah. [...]
Pope Francis in his homily said the Magi are a reflection of the world’s peoples who are “journeying in search of God…of all those who were lost and now hear the beckoning of a friendly voice.”
Focusing on three aspects of the biblical narrative of the Magi, Francis noted that they are described as having their “eyes are raised to the heavens.”
The Magi “do not pass their lives staring at their feet, self-absorbed, confined by earthly horizons, plodding ahead in resignation or lamentation,” but rather, they “lift their heads high and await the light that can illumine the meaning of their lives,” he said.
“If we remain closed in the narrow confines of earthly things, if we waste away, heads bowed, hostages of our failures and our regrets; if we thirst for wealth and worldly comforts rather than becoming seekers of life and love, our life slowly loses its light,” he said.
What the Magi illustrate is the necessity to fix one’s eyes on heaven in order to discover the meaning of life, the pope said, saying humanity needs God’s word and friendship to move forward.
“We need to set out on this journey, so that our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance, but will instead become a fire burning within us, making us passionate seekers of the Lord’s face and witnesses to his Gospel,” he said.
Francis then lamented that the church is often split into groups based on various interpretations of the faith and stressed the importance of communion, saying God must be at the center of faith, rather than one’s own ideas about it.
Noting how the Magi also completed a journey on earth, the pope said they chose to follow God’s sign in the star, and ultimately their journey culminates in finding God “in man, in a little Child lying in a manger.”
“That is where the God who is infinitely great has revealed himself: in the little, the infinitely little,” he said, and stressed the importance of journeying in the world as witnesses to the Gospel.
Jesus was given to the world, Pope Francis said, “not to warm our nights, but to let rays of light break through the dark shadows that envelop so many situations in our societies.”
In this sense, he said God is found “not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life, and above all in encountering and touching the flesh of our brothers and sisters,” just as the Magi themselves found a real child.
“This is important: to find God in flesh and bone, in the faces of those we meet each day, and especially in the poor,” Francis said, saying this encounter with God opens faithful to something bigger and “makes us change our way of life and transform our world.” [Read more here.]
From the secular AP News...
Pope Francis warns against ideological splits in the Church, says focus on the poor, not ‘theory’
![[Image: ?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F7...fb09adc661]](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/a233933/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3800x2534+0+0/resize/1440x960!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F79%2F80%2Fc5b547764650b0740aafc812132b%2Fdfd5543829d641009d67e7fb09adc661)
Pope Francis presides over Epiphany Mass January 6, 2024
Pope Francis presides over Epiphany Mass January 6, 2024
VATICAN CITY (AP [Emphasis - The Catacombs]) — Amid resistance to some Vatican policy by more conservative factions of the Catholic church, Pope Francis on Saturday cautioned the faithful against fracturing into groups “based on our own ideas.”
He issued the call to abandon “ecclesiastical ideologies” in his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica during Epiphany Day Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday.
Francis also warned against “basking in some elegant religious theory” instead of finding God in the faces of the poor.
Last month, Francis gave permission for priests to bless couples outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships, as long as the blessing was pastoral and not liturgical or part of some religious rite.
Some bishops who view Francis as a dangerous progressive immediately rejected such blessings. That prompted the Vatican earlier this week to issue a statement stressing that the blessings don’t constitute heresy and there were no doctrinal grounds to reject the practice.
Francis in his Epiphany homily didn’t cite the pushback against his same-sex blessings policy. But he deviated from the written text of the homily to cite the “need to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies.”
Francis said the Church needed to ensure that “our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance.”
“We find the God who comes down to visit us, not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life,” especially in the faces of the poor, the pontiff said.
The pontiff, who turned 87 last month and who battled health problems last year, held up well during the Epiphany ceremony, which included singing of Christmas hymns. At the end of the 90-minute service, an aide wheeled Francis down the basilica’s center aisle. The pope has a chronic knee problem and uses a wheelchair to navigate longer distances. [...]
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre