2015-08-15 Kevin Walters (UK)
The Web of Clericalism Comments welcome here
Please consider reading in conjunction with my previous articles
Look within we must now deal with clerical sin.
Pope Francis
“The Church must look with penetrating eyes within herself ponder the mystery of her own being… This vivid and lively self-awareness inevitably leads to a comparison between the ideal image of the Church as Christ envisaged her and loved her as his holy and spotless bride (cf. Eph 5:27), and the actual image which the Church presents to the world today.
This is the source of the Church’s heroic and impatient struggle for renewal: the struggle to correct those flaws introduced by her members which her own self-examination, mirroring her exemplar, Christ.
To date I have offered up to the church a way forward in response to the following questions.
1 The need to review the marriage annulment procedure.
Let it remain as it is and if anything be more vigorous in upholding the unbreakable bond of marriage.
2. Give access to the Sacraments to those in second relationships, by permitting them to partake in Holy Communion in making a public acknowledgement of their need of God’s Mercy in venerating the Image of broken man as given by God Himself to His Church.
3. Pastoral care for LGBT people their parents and families, in offering a Bond of Divine Mercy to those Christians who having committed to a civil union and who now can no longer receive the sacrament of absolution. This Bond would permit them to receive Holy Communion on the same conditions that would apply to those who have divorced and taken a civil partner.
4. The need for the teaching on birth control in Humanae Vitae to be vigorously strengthened by encouraging the laity who practices it, to acknowledge it openly before the Church in accepting their own human frailty, before partaking of the bread of life, in Venerating The True Image of Divine Mercy an image of broken man, a reflection of themselves before God in the Eucharist. In acknowledging their dependence on His Mercy before mankind, they give glory to our Father in heaven in bearing witness to the Truth, teaching others by their example to serve the Truth and walk in humility before our Creator.
“I desire that this picture be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the whole world”
This is a missionary call instigated by our Lord to the whole Church to Evangelizing through the action of Humility, a disarming action in its honesty, that embrace all in its simplicity, as we encounter our brothers and sisters who stand and seek direction at the crossroads (Difficulties) of life.
Throughout history God has made His Will know to mankind through his Saints, Spiritual leaders and Prophets. And at crucial times though out history His Will has be revealed in a way that that cannot be misunderstood by His people.
The True Divine Mercy revelation an image of broken man, which has been given by God Himself to His holy church on earth, has been rejection by the hierarchy (Elite) of the church. As with the heart of a Pharisee they could not stomach the thought of been seen like the rest of mankind, frail and sinful (Broken) in their fallen human nature, by holding their own IMAGE sacrosanct they committed a profane act by denying the Inviolate Word (Will) of God, in installing a blasphemous image an image made in their own image, in God’s Holy House on earth. The whole emphasis of this revelation is about Trust in Gods infinite mercy. Their actions show that they did not trust in His mercy and were only concerned with a worldly image of goodness, the very same problem which has led to the cover up of the child abuse scandal. The present Divine Mercy Image is a self-serving IMAGE of Clericalism, definition of CLERICALISM: a policy of maintaining or increasing the power of a religious hierarchy. It is an affront to God, instigated by nationalistic pride and those who would pacify the powerful, it has nothing to do with humility and does not mirror her exemplar, Christ. This ultimate sin, an act of blasphemy by the elite within the church, demands a True act of Contrition from them before our Father in heaven and the Church. (Mankind).
Rather than look at themselves with the penetrating eyes of Truth with regards to the abuse crisis cover up and acknowledge its historical culture within the Church in their own self-righteousness they staged a jamboree before all of mankind, to project their own sacrosanct image of themselves, in an act of arrogance before God, by making two of their own a personification of themselves, an intellectualized Pharisaical IMAGE of worldly goodness (Beauty). It was the same jamboree they gave to mankind a decade previously in bestowing on the Church the present divine mercy image, a self-serving blasphemous image an image of themselves.
As they paraded (Swaggered) themselves in Rome before mankind in the canonizing process it is fair to say that he Pope Francis and his Bishops would have been fully aware of the tens of thousands of derogatory articles and comments on the canonization of John Paul 11 over the last few years and especially those made by the victims and they families of the child abuse scandal, was not their pain enough reason to delay the canonizations of these two popes and facilitate the justifiable concerns of so many families and organizations that have assisted victims, their concerns were total disregarded, why? As Pope Francis and his Bishops callously continued with the canonization process which only Pope Francis had the authority to stop, he and the Bishops would have been fully aware, that victims who have been traumatized need closure and this closure for the majority of the abused and their families can only be achieved by the perpetrators or their accomplices (those who facilitated The Papacy to cover up this scandal) showing TRUE contrition for what they have done.
The canonization of John Paul 11 before the world media by Pope Francis and the Bishops was an act of emotional violence on those who have been abused and their families, by having to watch (relive) and see again the hypocrisy of so many of the elite in our church who the majority of mankind believe contrived in the cover up and then to be seen participating in bestowing its highest Honor on the one man, who so many believe could have averted the untold suffering of so many innocent and vulnerable victims, this action has to call into question the integrity of the leadership of the Church and to some degree our Shepherds who stood by and permitted this act to happen.
The REALITY is that all who serve Truth/Love can see this act for what it was. It is comparable to Pontus Pilate who by washing his hands in public separated his public responsibility (High Office) from his personal self, while he murdered innocence. To his compatriots he would be still seen as a man of Honor. It now appears, that his example is been taught to the laity, in these words, “Personal Holiness has nothing to do with one’s responsibility held in high office. The Church has now through the authority of Pope Francis washed its hands in public in regards to the cover up of the child abuse scandal, as it has now attempted to separate the responsibility of those who hold high office from the man himself.
It will not wash.
Rather than embrace the wounded Christ and suffer for the cause of Truth, he Pope Francis with his Bishops were prepared to act in callousness and use the authority of the Holy Spirit (Truth) to belittle and inflict further pain on these who cry out for justice from Gods holy church on earth.
It now appears that honorable (Worldly) men in the Church will now be able to confer Sainthood on each other, as from now on an IMAGE of personal holiness will suffice.
For me this was a defining moment for Pope Francis, I had hoped to see an heroic and impatient struggle for renewal (and still do) in seeing a man holding the bright flame of Truth (Love) before all of mankind, by stopping these contentious canonizations in confronting CLERICALISM and embrace the failings of the papacy (Cover up of the child abuse scandal), under John Paul 11. Teaching by EXAMPLE, in been prepared to suffer (in Joy) for the Truth, embrace the wounds (Sufferings) of Christ and in so doing ask all of us to do the same, be an EXAMPLE serve and be prepared to suffer for the Truth in humility, acknowledging our own human frailty and in so doing expose the evil that enslaves mankind, our sinfulness.
How can our shepherds ask (lead) the flock to embrace humility, there is only one way they must vigorously embrace it themselves and to do this they have to confront the trappings of clericalism, that spider that has caught so many in its web of deceit and arrogance. The True divine mercy Image has the power confirmed by God within its self to bring the arrogance of clericalism to its knees and draw the Church into a new splendor.
One day in that same year, 1935, Sister Faustina wrote.
“The time will come when this work, which God so commends, (will be) as though in complete ruin, and suddenly the action of God will come upon the scene with great power which will bear witness to the truth. It will be as a new splendor for the church, though it has been dormant in it from long ago.”
The True Divine Mercy image calls for the leadership of the Church to give account for themselves, before God and mankind.
I am relatively new to the chaos in how the Science of Interpretation (Hermeneutics) is been used within the secular church, its cold divergence from the living Word of God with intellectualized nuances. For many it appears to be a game of one-upmanship by the better educated, endorsing themselves with titles, attachment to Saints, degrees of divinity, etc. His compassionate vibrating heart is nowhere to be seen, it appears to be just a mind game for many but sadly they do not know it. It is comparable to those who tried to build the Tower of Babel they cannot understand each other they are not of one mind, the Mind of Christ, the living Word of God within the heart. The fullness of Gods inviolate Word in is not enough for them, individually they would have more; wanting to be the arbitrators of His revealed inviolate Will, they would exhaust the treasures in Christ and then still desire more, they are comparable to a man filling a bucket with a hole in it, they retain nothing within the heart.
The Church has become entangled in its own convoluted teaching, radical reform is needed.
The leaders of the Church can no longer teach by dictating or laying down the law, they (Mankind) must be led by those who walk (Live) in humility before God, as they proclaim the simplicity of His inviolate Word within the Gospels then these Words will be fulfilled
“They will be taught by God”
Then our Shepherds will be able to respond with certitude to any questions asked.
The teaching of the faith needs to be simplified so that even the most simple can understand it and participate in true equality, simplicity of heart, as they could in our Saviors time and then the laity who serve the Inviolate Word of God IN UNIT OF PURPOSE male and female can take their rightful place as humble leaders within the Church.
Someone said to me recently that our interpretations of His Word will always be incomplete I would rather say sufficient for the day, we are subject to the scrutiny of God’s Word. God is His own interpreter and over time will lead us into the Truth, we walk in darkness with His guiding light, His Living Word has to be lived (Absorbed) to fully understand it . To embrace Jesus is to devour His Word and we do this when we acknowledge His inviolate teaching within the heart. As we contemplate His Word (Will) The Holy Spirit Beats (sifts) us with blow upon blow until in our heart, our true self we truly know and in this knowing (Seeing) our true self in its brokenness in relation to His inviolate Word (Will) humbles us. And when acknowledged openly will and does form a bond of trust (Unity of Purpose) based on humility, between His lovers before our Father in Heaven.
“The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; “repent and believe in
the gospel.”
God’s Word emphasizes repent and belief in His Word also Revelation 3:19.
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent”.
We must part (Repent) from sin and self-reliance (relative knowledge) we must
live by faith (Believe) in His Inviolate Word and this can only be done by
walking zealously in humility before His Word (TRUTH) given to us within the
Gospels. We are all in need of continual correction in our thoughts and
behaviour, as the white raiment he purchased for us, can only be received (worn,
lived,) in humility.
When we willingly bow down before His light, His Will subjugates our will with
His Inviolate Word (Truth).
The Truth (His Will) feeds love.
Loving Father, let Truth abound
Clearing mist, fog and cloud
Quickening
the heart setting it free
Lifting consciousness to higher degree
Compassion is the fruit of thee.
The darkness recedes as we follow His light and through His grace our hearts
will be refined into pure gold (Compassion). This serving of the
Truth will induce respect from many who observe our humility before God, a Holy
People serving the Truth, the living Word of God, seen living in compassionate
hearts by acknowledging their own limitations before Him and mankind.
Pope Francis
“I dream of a “missionary option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channelled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation”.
Can Pope Francis and the leadership of the Church embrace humility before mankind by venerating The true image of Divine Mercy, an image of their own brokenness and in so doing break the power of the spider (Clericalism).
Then in this coming Year of Mercy open the door of the church wide, for the Holy Spirit to blow away its cobwebs in permitting all of mankind to see and venerate the true beauty of the Divine Mercy Image, the blessing God himself has bestowed on His Church for the salvation of all mankind.
kevin your brother
In Christ
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