Saturday 2 June 2018

The Remnant



This was fun to make but its low on humorous content. 

For four minutes and and thirty four seconds I got to pretend to be Bruce Springsteen.

I don't think he's practising the Catholic Faith anymore, is he?

A bit


17 comments:

DeHereticoComburendo said...

One of my favourite tracks, with a nice new lyric, love it!

Do you do requests? Might I suggest “Hotel Santa Marta” to the tune of a certain Eagles hit? It practically writes itself, but here’s the chorus, to get you started:-

Welcome to the Hotel Santa Marta
Such a humble place...
such a simple space

I’m not livin’ it up at the Casa Santa Marta,
I must experience dearth...
To save poor mother Earth

The Bones said...

Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5sn_vkDLBo

Hotel Sanctae Martae

DeHereticoComburendo said...

Thanks Bones, looks like you got there before me - fair play to you!
Sadly, the youtube video is "blocked" for my territory (UK) so I can't view it. Darn it....

john haggerty said...

DeHereticoComburendo:
A joke is a joke, but you are going too far, and this is becoming offensive.
You are not performing a gig in a pub for a crowd of drunken students.

In choosing to live in Santa Marta, Pope Francis cut out the court-like circle of 'insiders' which only contributes to the culture of gossip that bedevils any papacy.
The traditional papal apartment, though spacious, has a narrow entrance; Francis compared it to 'an inverted tunnel' that let in too few visitors; this pope does not wish to be isolated from his people.

It was Pope Benedict who said that the papal monarchial system was no longer viable in the 21st Century.
The task of reform proved too much for him, however, and Benedict felt assailed on all sides by financial corruption and moral scandal.
In retiring he brought down a toxic administration.

Much of the pomp that clung to the papal court derived from the imperial Roman Empire; it was semi-pagan; even the title pontifex maximus is pagan, referring to the chief priest of pre-Christian Rome.
John Paul II got rid of the portable throne borne on the backs of footmen.
Benedict removed the triregnum from the papal crest, replacing it with the bishop's mitre.
Francis would not wear the red slippers and red shoulder cape, seeing them as symbols of the Roman emperor.
Even the kissing of the pope's feet and hands is a carry-over from imperial paganism: the Apostle Peter stopped someone from genuflecting before him, reminding his admirer that he was only a man.

Criticism of Francis concerning doctrine is legitimate.
But ridiculing Pope Francis because of his genuine humility or because he wants to cleanse the church of non-Christian decoration is wrong, indeed sinful.

Jesus had something to say about the Pharisees who loved to be seen with their fine robes and who made a display of their public praying.
Idolatry is subtle. Each one of us is a factory that produces idols.
We have to cleanse our hearts daily and beg a holy God for forgiveness.

'Oh how I wish for a church that is poor and for the poor!'
Those are the words of Francis, but Jesus would have endorsed them.

DeHereticoComburendo said...

At the time of its legal recognition, the ROMAN Catholic Church adopted the manners, titles and Latin language of the Roman Empire. Take them away if you wish, but I'm afraid Protestantism got there first.

John, thank you for your comment, and I take your criticism very much to heart. I do indeed, as a faithful (I hope!) Catholic, assume that the Pope’s outward gestures mirror an interior spirituality far deeper than my own. My comment was intended purely as humour, a humour which sadly these days, is increasingly of the gallows variety; in a Church where the head of the German episcopate feels he has to use his Corpus Christi homily to give an emotional speech against the prospect of ‘intercommunion’, which Pope Francis - amongst other novelties never heard before - seems to be advocating.

john haggerty said...

DeHereticoComburendo:

Your concerns regarding 'intercommunion' are legitimate.
Cardinal Rainer Woelki's sermon was on the centrality of the Mass and Eucharist in Catholic worship.
Non-Catholic Christians are welcome to attend Mass, but they cannot receive the Host.
Episcopalians and Lutherans find this scandalous because their eucharistic theology is inclusive.
Very Reformed churches also exclude non-members from receiving Communion (both the Free Church of Scotland and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland are very strict in this regard) so why should the Catholic Church apologize for its policy of exclusion?

Francis is perceived as 'the listening pope'.
He has been silent over the Irish referendum; but he will be digesting the implications of Ireland's decision which one atheist in Dublin has described as 'the breaking down of the Catholic Berlin Wall', meaning that the church's influence on Irish life has come to an end.

Pope Francis will visit Ireland in three months' time; it will be a defining moment in his papacy and he knows it.
He must address Ireland's 'loyal Catholic remnant' but he must also challenge the progressive anti-Christian agenda which is shaping Ireland's secular future and is as articulate (and wrong-headed) as the old Marxist-Leninism of my youth.

The church saw Marxism relegated to the dustbin of history.
The church will see the idols of secularism die too; but the death will be a slow and painful one ('a hard and bitter agony') as T.S. Eliot said in his poem The Journey of the Magi.

I hope Pope Francis reminds the Irish people of the rich heritage of Celtic Christianity which saved Ireland during the Dark Age.

Ireland's place on the very edge of Europe never excluded it from playing a central role in Western Christianity.
Irish Christianity will be central again if the Holy Spirit leads it.
This time Irish women from all backgrounds will play a crucial role in winning the nation back to the Gospel.
Listen to Marie Steen of the Iona Institute: Youtube.

I am not a fan of The Guardian with its slanted coverage of Christian issues; its writers tell their readers what they want to hear.
Read the online Guardian:

Irish Archbishops say abortion vote shows church's waning influence: Harriet Sherwood.
Life is Precious: Donegal quietly voting no in referendum: Sinead Baker.
Time For Change: Anne Enright on Ireland's Referendum.

'Europe is the faith, the faith is Europe.' Hilaire Belloc.


john haggerty said...

Please watch YouTube:

1) Speech by Maria Steen to the Citizens' Assembly.
2) The Political Background to the Proposed Amendment to the Irish Constitution.
3) Maria Steen on the Divorce Epidemic/Brendan O'Connor.

Maria Steen is a mother and a barrister. She home-schools her children.
For more information on Mrs Steen, see Wikipedia; there is also a Wiki entry for the Iona Institute which is both hated and feared by Ireland's dominant secularists.

John Waters, like Maria Steen, is pro-Life; his YouTube lectures and discussions on 'how Ireland lost God' are worth watching.
A musician and journalist, Mr Waters is author of several books which describe his return to the faith after years in the secular wilderness.

Justina said...

Bones is not "going too far." Bergoglio is.

c matt said...

But ridiculing Pope Francis because of his genuine humility or because he wants to cleanse the church of non-Christian decoration is wrong, indeed sinful.

There is no such thing as a humble Argentine, even more so one who has been in any position of influence, secular or religious. Besides, true humility is acting proper to your station and vocation, neither denigrating nor exalting it. His lack of humility is apparent from your very comment - refusing to wear the red shoes and cape because of how he interprets it (Roman Imperialism), not how tradition interprets it (Martyrdom - and the Pope's supposed willingness to die a martyr's death). With Bergoglio, it is all about Bergoglio, and all must be remade into his image and likeness. Rather than the defender of Tradition as is his proper role, he seeks to be master and creator of it. At least there is some truth to his actions - by refusing the red, he makes it loud and clear he is not willing to die a martyr's death for the Faith. In fairness, you can probably count one one hand the number of cardinals who are.

DeHereticoComburendo said...

John, thank you for your most generous response. You highlight the issue of Ireland - I'm guessing that's where you hail from, and I envy you. Will PF cancel his visit, I wonder, or at least pointedly reduce it to a fly-in/do your speech/fly-out exercise? Sadly, I suspect not. I suspect PF will have a bear-hug, kissy-kissy love-in with Mr Veradker. And who is betrayed, John? Ah, that would be you... and me. Best wishes.

john haggerty said...

To DeHereticoComburendo:

I am a Lowland Scot (Glaswegian) of Irish Catholic descent.

The wonderful motto of Glasgow is attributed to the city's patron saint, Kentigern (Mungo):

LORD, LET GLASGOW FLOURISH BY THE PREACHING OF THY WORD AND THE PRAISING OF THY NAME.

Kentigern baptised converts in the Molendinar Burn which once ran down past our (pre-Reformation) Glasgow Cathedral - the city's medieval High Street and the location of the city's oldest house.
This area of Glasgow is associated with the Druids who embraced the Christian faith.
There is a legend that when the Roman priest Kentigern met his Celtic counterpart Columba of Iona, both men embraced.

The Cathedral's high grassy cemetery is worth seeing.
It affords wide-open views of Glasgow and the far hills.
When I last visited it on a snowy New Year's Day there were tourists from America, Germany and Japan.

The management team who run Glasgow long ago shortened Mungo's motto to: Let Glasgow Flourish.

Flourishing we certainly are... judging by our filthy pavements and potholed roads; our churches which are now drinking dens thumping out rock music; our sea of souls inebriated on alcohol and drugs; our once proud thoroughfares like Argyle Street with its rotting concrete buildings and cheap stores; our Church of Scotland ministers who want to throw out the old hymn books and have the young people bring in their smartphones and tablets.
The latter was a serious proposal by the former Moderator, Dr. Chalmers.

Do not think only Catholics say that we are facing another Dark Age.
A Reformed Baptist minister of my acquaintance, a Bible-preaching man in his eighties, told me: 'We are hated now, even the liberal churches regard us as pariahs.'

'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.' Psalm 127: 1

ATW said...

john haggerty said:

"But ridiculing Pope Francis because of his genuine humility..."

That's rich.

"The church saw Marxism relegated to the dustbin of history."

I don't know where you live, John, or where you get your news, but Marxism is alive and well throughout Western Europe, North America, and much of the Third World.

luis_rcoelho said...

It was f unny in the beginning, but that is it. It's not funny any more.
We are talking about the church of God, not just some church, therefore we need respect when mention her.

john haggerty said...

Even the legendary Peter Simple (alias Michael Wharton) of The Daily Telegraph could not have invented it in his brilliant satirical column The Way of the World.
But here it is:

Church of Scotland 'must switch from hymns to smartphones or face obscurity'.
The Telegraph (online) November 26 2016.

The then outgoing Moderator Dr. John Chalmers said hymnbooks are as redundant as, well, biblical Christianity.
In the Mister Nice Guy tradition of ruffling no feathers and toadying up to the Scottish Parliament and the BBC, the good doctor is quoted as saying that 'the mission of the church is about building communities of justice and peace and love'.

Nothing about bringing sinful and hell-bound souls to salvation in Jesus Christ.
As Gresham Machen said, liberal Christianity is another religion altogether.
Or as the Beach Boys sang, 'I wish we all could be California...'

On Sunday evenings at my Reformed Baptist Church I hear the magnificent hymns of Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, John Newton, Augustus Toplady, William Cowper, Fanny Crosby, William Williams, Horatio Spafford and Frances Ridley Havergal etc.

I pray for the conversion of Gareth Malone because he would prove Dr. Chalmers wrong and have the whole nation singing those God-exalting hymns again.

Listen to 'It is Well With My Soul' (Spafford) and 'O For A Thousand Tongues' (Wesley) on YouTube.

And remember to switch off your smartphone.

Anonymous said...

The Lord wins in the end........that's all to be said.Just wait and pray the Rosary.

john haggerty said...

Reciting the Rosary - yes.
Waiting on the Holy Spirit - yes, again.
But the laity must ACT when the pope and bishops are silent about the deepening moral crisis in the church.

Michael Voris puts it well.
'The shepherds are NOT shepherding,' he says, a cry from the heart from one who sees the imminent death of Catholicism.

See on YouTube:
The Vortex - Stop Them, Now. (Church Militant) June 11 2018.

Lead Kindly Light, the day is far behind.

john haggerty said...

May I make another plug?

The Vortex - Tyrant Speech (YouTube) from Church Militant, June 18.

'Speech can be civil but still evil,' Mr Voris points out.

Something useful to remember when we are in the company of silky-tongued deceivers both inside and outside the Church.

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