A GREAT ANALOGY IN TIMES OF STRIFE IN SOCIETY AND IN THE CHURCH

 

( Image from 

https://discover.hubpages.com/education/The-Cadaver-SynodWhen-a-Dead-Pope-was-Put-on-Trial )

Today I heard a seven-year-old sermon that is still very relevant today.

The Church has been in crisis for a number of decades now.  But we still have to place our trust in God, who always has everything under control.

My main takeaway from this sermon is the analogy of The Church being like a boat caught in a terrible storm.

While the sailors (IE, the laypeople) are hanging on for dear life, the men in the wheelhouse are having a drunken brawl.  One could jump out of the boat and into the storm, but that would be rather stupid, especially since, in this analogy, the boat is The Church established by Jesus Christ.  The only hope is to remain inside the boat. In other words, NEVER LEAVE THE CHURCH!

What we are experiencing in The Church since "the spirit of Vatican II" took over is overshadowed by some of the events in the past.  The video highlights the "Cadaver Synod" of 897, where Pope Stephen VII staged one of the strangest trials in history.

I never knew about this terrible piece of Church history:

Worried about the Papacy? Christ is the Point | A Dead Pope on Trial? Lessons From The Cadaver Synod

Never allow yourself to fall into scandal or be scandalized.  It is good to know what is happening in The Church, but we must be scandalized.

Dominus vobiscum, Reg

CORRECTION TO POST "Happy Birthday Catholic Church!" of June 9th, 2019!

 

ORIGINAL POST:

I have often heard that Pentecost marks the birth of the Catholic Church, but I also see the "Great Commission" given by Our Lord just before His Ascension as being a beginning.

To celebrate this great feast I'd to share a video from Gloria.TV:

Veni Sancte Spiritus
https://gloria.tv/video/qeTax1ZWescf3Ajz8x3JSyqpH

UPDATE:

That Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, was the "birth" of the church is a thought I've held since my days as an Anglican involved in an evangelical group at university, a long, long time ago.

Now, in 2025, I've come across people saying that this is an error.  So I did my usual.  I asked Father Internet what he thinks.  (I didn't "Google" anything.  I "Duck Duck Goed" it.)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

When Was The Church Born?

The Catechism No. 766 says: “ ‘The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus.’ ‘For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the “wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.”’ As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.”

HABEMUS PAPAM!

 Pope Leo XIV was announced when I was alone praying the Rosary. I therefore read a few short articles about him before retiring for the night ... eventually.

I said a decade of the Rosary for him followed by the prayer to Holy Michael, Archangel. That's when it hit me. The prayer to St. Michael was composed by Pope Leo XIII ! That gives me some hope. I hope this indicates that Pope Leo XIV is strongly aware that we are in spiritual warfare, that we are joining in spiritual warfare with the hosts of heaven in all that we think, do, say, and pray.

May God bless him with supernatural faith and an enormous love for God. A love so great that it results in true charity. That all his actions, teachings, and prayers flow from a deep love for Our Lord.

Dominus tecum Pope Leo XIV