Tuesday 29 April 2014

He sounds a bit trad to me...

Pope St John XXIII: Sounds a bit trad!
'Doing penance for one's sins is a first step towards obtaining forgiveness and winning eternal salvation. That is the clear and explicit teaching of Christ, and no one can fail to see how justified and how right the Catholic Church has always been in constantly insisting on this. She is the spokesman for her divine Redeemer. No individual Christian can grow in perfection, nor can Christianity gain in vigor, except it be on the basis of penance.

That is why in Our Apostolic Constitution officially proclaiming the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council and urging the faithful to make a worthy spiritual preparation for this great event by prayer and other acts of Christian virtue, We included a warning to them not to overlook the practice of voluntary mortification.'

These were the words of Saint John XXIII prior to the opening of the Second Vatican Council. It was July 1st 1962, when these words were addressed in his encyclical Paenitentiam Agere. The 'reforming Pope' was intent on persuading the Church of the first need for the Christian community to do penance and offer up prayer, especially to the Holy Spirit, in the time running up to the Second Vatican Council. Good Pope Saint John continues...

The Apostles held undeviatingly to the principles of their divine Master. When the Holy Spirit had descended on them in the form of fiery tongues, Peter expressed his invitation to the multitudes to seek rebirth in Christ and to accept the gifts of the most holy Paraclete in these words: "Do penance and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."(11) Paul too, the teacher of the Gentiles, announced to the Romans in no uncertain terms that the kingdom of God did not consist in an attitude of intellectual superiority or in indulging the pleasures of sense. It consisted in the triumph of justice and in peace of mind. "For the kingdom of God does not consist in food and drink, but in justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

And further...

Certainly, Venerable Brethren, when one views the faith which distinguishes the Church, the sacraments which nourish and perfect her, the universal laws and precepts which govern her, the unfailing glory that is hers by reason of the heroic virtue and constancy of so many of her elect, there can be no doubt that the Bride of Christ, so dear to her divine Redeemer, has always kept herself holy and unsullied.

But of her children there are some who nevertheless forget the greatness of their calling and election. They mar their God-given beauty, and fail to mirror in themselves the image of Jesus Christ. We cannot find it in Us to threaten or abuse them, for the love We bear them is a father's love. Instead We appeal to them in the words of the Council of Trent—the best restorative for Catholic discipline. "When we put on Christ in baptism (Gal. 3.27), we become in Him an entirely new creature and obtain the full and complete remission of every sin. It is only with great effort and with great compunction on our part that we can obtain the same newness and sinlessness in the sacrament of penance, for such is the stipulation of divine justice. That is why the holy Fathers called penance 'a laborious kind of baptism'."

Before reminding us that...

Our first need is for internal repentance; the detestation, that is, of sin, and the determination to make amends for it. This is the repentance shown by those who make a good Confession, take part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice and receive Holy Communion. The faithful should be specially encouraged to do this during the novena to the Holy Spirit, for external acts of penance are quite obviously useless unless accompanied by a clear conscience and the detestation of sin. Hence Christ's severe warning: "Unless you repent you will all perish in the same manner." God forbid that any of Our sons and daughters succumb to this danger.

But the faithful must also be encouraged to do outward acts of penance, both to keep their bodies under the strict control of reason and faith, and to make amends for their own and other people's sins. St. Paul was caught up to the third heaven—he reached the summit of holiness—and yet he had no hesitation in saying of himself "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection." On another occasion he said: "They who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires." St. Augustine issued the same insistent warning: "It is not enough for a man to change his ways for the better and to give up the practice of evil, unless by painful penance, sorrowing humility, the sacrifice of a contrite heart and the giving of alms he makes amends to God for all that he has done wrong."


I look forward, in the time running up to the Synod to His Holiness calling me, as a Catholic, to do penance, go to Confession, seek the will of God, encourage me towards Christian perfection, to mortify my flesh, avoid and detest sin and to offer up a Novena to the Holy Spirit for the Third Vatican Council , sorry, Synod on the Family where we shall, God willing, hear that the Pope and the Cardinals and Bishops hold 'undeviatingly to the principles of their divine Master.' No?

12 comments:

Deacon Augustine said...

Or alternatively, he may just try to squish any voices he doesn't like a la Bishop Campbell:

http://protectthepope.com/?p=10373#comment-327704

Православный физик said...

He could and should, however the little book of insults I anticipate will be the size of an unabridged dictionary ;)...

Anonymous said...

Fr Mark Kirby at Vultus Christi has a good piece on St John XXIII.

Anonymous said...

Bishop Campbell does not have the authority to unlawfully oppose the penance of silence, as he's purported to do, relying on Deacon Donnelly submitting to it. A formal canonical action needs to be taken against the unlawful action of the bishop to the Holy See. No canonical crime has been committed by Deacon Donnelly. On the contrary he has faithfully conformed to and upheld the Deposit of Faith.

Annie said...

As I pointed out to our clueless friend, Damian, the other day, Pope John XXIII in 1961- TWO YEARS before the Second Vatican Council - described the Church as "vibrant with vitality" and equal to "the most glorious periods of the Church".

Compare that with the assessment of Pope Paul VI who, in 1972, said that, "through some crack the smoke of Satan had entered the temple of God".

Fr John said...

John XIII was traditional, as are Councils of the Church. He knew exactly what he was doing by calling one because he was a historian and the Council of Trent was his specialist area.

Lepanto said...

The thing his modernist 'fans' never seem to mention is his great insistence on the necessity for sexual purity in his autobiography. (Perhaps he was just a 'man of his age'in this regard like St. Paul?)

Our Lady of Good Success-pray for us. said...

'Fr John', John XXIII was not traditional. He was the Father of the Revolution - really all it takes is a glance at the Truth and one cannot pretend he was 'good' anything in particular - except maybe pulling the wool:

http://romancatholicworld.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/not-a-good-mix-john-xxiii-john-paul-ii-and-i/


When it comes to our enemies, Christ said, turn the other cheek. He didn't say and get a lobotomy and never look the facts in the eye again.

Our Lady of Good Success-pray for us. said...

and lest we forget, John XXIII was the one who 'did away' with Our Lady's request at Fatima. He also established the Vatican-Moscow agreement, which is why, in over half a century Rome has never condemned communisim:

http://www.fatimacrusader.com/cr16/cr16pg05.asp

p.s. and Fr Gruner of the Fatima Network was never suspended:

http://www.fatima.org/apostolate/defense/notsusvir.asp

he did, however, get roughed up and abused for attending Francis' consecra...no, it was, the 'entrustment' of, I think the world, to, um, it wasn't the Immaculate Heart, anyway.

Anonymous said...

Actually I beleive Pope John XXIII was very traditional about the Holy Mass and Latin in the Liturgy... and would probably be horrified with the present state of things now related to these...


Barbara

fr john said...

viterbo - Gruner is suspended although he denies it which is an act of bad faith and probably why we shouldn't listen to him. The matter has been clarifies by the Vatican which is why he was asked to leave the recent Marian Consecration ceremony with Francis - and he wasn't roughed up. A little digging around on the internet will clarify the suspension although I don't have time to do the work for you.

Unknown said...

If J23 was a traditional Catholic , why did he employ 6 Protestant clergymen, a Jew and a heretic priest to help compose the Novus Ordo? I converted to the Catholic Church in 2003 and cut my Catholic spiritual teeth on the N.O. When I read last year how the N. O. 'came to pass' I was shocked, disappointed and hurt. I made my Southern Baptist mother cry and lost friends to attend a Mass written by 6 Prots, a Jew and a heretic priest? I am employed by a respectful N. O. parish and attend on Sunday, but try to get to a TLM when I can during the week.

Seattle Kimmy

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