Following Lenin & Miles Christi

TIA,

Thought you would like to know The Economist from London agrees with you that Francis is a Marxist. It recently accused him of following Vladimir Lenin.

In the magazine's blog a entry titled “Francis, capitalism and war: The pope’s divisions,” the British weekly questioned aspects of a wide-ranging interview the pontiff recently gave to the Spanish daily La Vanguardia:

“By positing a link between capitalism and war, he seems to be taking an ultra-radical line: one that consciously or unconsciously follows Vladimir Lenin in his diagnosis of capitalism and imperialism as the main reason why world war broke out a century ago.”

     Cordially,

     M.G.

TIA,

Maybe you are interested in this report:

Thought you would like to know that the Vatican is partnering with an Islamic museum for a unique exhibition. The show - first of its kind– of course is seen as a sign of openness and cooperation between religions.

Unique here is the fact the works come from the Islamic region between Morocco and Sudan all the way to Western China, but are owned by the Vatican. Most of the objects now on show had arrived in the Vatican in 1925 when Pope Pius XI hosted a kind of international cultural exhibition comprised of gifts presented to him from private donors and missionaries stationed all around the world.

Now Rome is lending its works for the first time is an act of diplomacy in line with Pope Francis's current policies. During a speech for the sponsors of the Ethnological Museum, Pope Francis pointed out the unifying role of culture in religious, social and moral matters. So, in the exhibition catalog, the Vatican writes that it will treat the Islamic objects “with the same amount of respect as the Leonardos, Raffaels and Michaelangelos.”

The title of the exhibition is “So that you may know each other.” which is a verse from the Koran in response to the question of why people are so different. Mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims is what the exhibition aims at. So we have art – like everything else - at the service of ecumenism.

The Vatican wanted to be part of the recent exhibition at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization.

Original here

     H.O.

TIA,

How can we let Pope Francis know that a great many of us have read the book by Father Luigi Villa and, far from agreeing with the beatification of Pope Paul VI, we think that he should be anathematized and we should go back to the practices before the Council, if for no other reason than his having authorized them. He did not promote the cult of God, but the cult of man, and changing all the sacraments had no other purpose than to lead us away from Christ.

Why do we have to pretend that we accept everything he says as though he were God? Why can't we disagree with him boldly?

     L.C., Canada


TIA responds:

L.C.,

We believe the answers to your questions can be found in the book We Resist You to the Face, which is available here. After reading it, if you will have any doubt, we will be glad to help you.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

Just FYI.

Friday is June 25. 6 months after Christmas and 6 months until Christmas. So, if you haven't taken down your Christmas lights yet, you might as well leave 'em up .

     S.S.

Dear TIA,

In haste, I should thank you for the following articles:

• The Fatal Danger of Abusing God’s Mercy
• When the Measure of Guilt Is Filled,God Chastises the Sinner
• Sentimental Piety Is Self-Idolatry

I haven't wanted to believe that God numbers sins myself, and sadly, I must admit that I have always presumed God's mercy, and have very rarely resisted the temptation to commit my most besetting, habitual mortal sin. Thank you for bringing this to my attention again. It was first brought up for me by an SSPV priest in a homily on this subject. He preached exactly as you have written it: each person has only a certain number of sins that God will forgive, and after than he will forgive no more. At the time, I was scared by it, and in despair, so I stopped going to Mass there.

I also have a question about pietism, as I am sure I am guilty of it, and I think it has turned my prayer life into an ingratiating, neurotic exercise, rather than an expression of a true love of God. I "feel good", for example, if I say my morning prayers. I also like praying in Latin -- it "feels good"; it has the feeling of "piety".

So my question is, How does one tell if they are falling into pietism? How does one fight pietism and move toward an authentic prayer life, and a life of following Christ?

     Yours truly,

     M.R.


TIA responds:

Dear M.R.,

We recommend that you abandon the criterion to judge your spiritual life according to what makes you “feel good.” This is a feminine-bourgeois criterion that has little to do with Catholic spirituality. Catholic formation tells us to do our duty with regard to God and the Catholic Church. Once our duties are accomplished. we have peace of conscience, regardless of feeling good or bad. Feelings do not play a decisive role here. What counts is the decision of the will to fulfill our obligations.

When a soldier conquers a strategic site from the enemy, his conscience is at peace because he accomplished his orders. If, during the process, he is wounded, he obviously does not feel good, but nonetheless his conscience is at peace. Most frequently this is what happens with our spiritual conquests. As we struggle to conquer a new stronghold of the Devil, we are wounded. Nonetheless, we continue until the bastion is taken. Then, we rest, take care of our wounds, and thank Our Lady for her help.

Try to take in your spirituality a more objective and manly perspective, that of a miles Christi, a soldier of Christ, as every Catholic used to be defined until Vatican II.

We hope this will answer your questions.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

Friday is the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion is essential for Catholics, as the popes have instructed us, and it is important to know the doctrinal reasons for this.

The first reason for honoring the Sacred Heart is that It belongs to the Son of God because of the Incarnation and therefore is worthy of adoration because It is God’s Heart.

The second reason is based on the fact that all of Our Lord’s sentiments, especially His love, are part of His Heart. For His Passion and Death to have any value in redeeming us, Jesus had to desire to accomplish our salvation and this required the love of His Heart.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus then demands our adoration by the Incarnation, and our love, thanksgiving and reparation because of the Redemption. Because the Redemptive-Incarnation is necessary for our salvation, so is the Sacred Heart necessary and therefore an essential devotion.

In addition, we have the personal appeal from Our Lord to us through St. Margaret Mary: “Behold the Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify Its love;… Therefore, I ask of you that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special Feast to honor My Heart, by communicating on that day, and making reparation to It by a solemn act…”

We will have a Solemn Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus this Friday as our response to His petition and we invite you to join us. ...

     Servants of the Holy Family