If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.“Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock. Deuteronomy 28:1-4 – on obedience
When I first sat down to write this post, I was apparently confused, something that seems common these days. It has become known to me now that Pope Francis answered the first Dubia originally sent quite awhile ago on July 11. The second Dubia was a response to his response, which asks yes or no questions. This analysis is one of the response to the first Dubia, which the 5 Cardinals did address themselves so perhaps this is redundant. The answer to the first Dubia was a veritable word salad of ambiguity that definitely appeared to contradict teaching. What I read was Protestant. It explains why a second Dubia was sent. My heart is sad. For my part, I will comment on two things.
First, in regard to blessing same-sex unions, part of the answer states, “However, in our relationships with people, we must not lose the pastoral charity, which should permeate all our decisions and attitudes. The defence of objective truth is not the only expression of this charity; it also includes kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, and encouragement. Therefore, we cannot be judges who only deny, reject, and exclude.” It goes on to say, ” Therefore, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or more persons, that do not convey a mistaken concept of marriage. For when a blessing is requested, it is expressing a plea to God for help, a supplication to live better, a trust in a Father who can help us live better.”
This begs the question that was asked. What kind of blessing are we talking about? If a person, a child of God, asks for a blessing, it seems to me the Priest can bless that person, for within the blessing invoking the Most Holy Trinity, will come the conviction of sin on a person’s heart. At Mass the righteous and sinner are blessed are blessed alike. Blessing guides people to truth. However, the question was asked about blessing the sin, this can never be done, as it calls down curse not only upon the sinner, but also the one blessing the sin.
“But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees that I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you: “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock. “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The Lord will send upon you disaster, panic, and frustration in everything you attempt to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds with which you have forsaken me. The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until it has consumed you off the land that you are entering to possess. The Lord will afflict you with consumption, fever, inflammation, with fiery heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. The sky over your head shall be bronze and the earth under you iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land into powder, and only dust shall come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed. “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out against them one way and flee before them seven ways. You shall become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your corpses shall be food for every bird of the air and animal of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away. The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, scurvy, and itch, of which you cannot be healed. Deuteronomy 28:15-27 – on disobedience
If the response remains unchanged, we just had curse called down upon us and it will come from the work of human hands. We can expect war and pestilence. Let’s pray that the Pope responds solidifying teaching to this second Dubia.
The question’s “nuance” is over the difference of blessing a person vs. blessing a sin. We do and we should exclude blessing sin. Sin is not our identity, but it is being made to be by modernists. While at Mass a blessing of the people is called down upon sinners, we ask though that the unrepentant sinner not receive communion. Imagine if women suddenly started coming to the Priests asking for blessing for their abortion. Or if thieves started coming to Priests asking for blessing to steal. Or adulterers brought their concubine for blessing their illicit sexual act.
Which brings me to the next point. The answer to the Dubia also stated that Priests could absolve the unrepentant because, “There are many ways to express repentance. Often, in people who have a very wounded self-esteem, declaring themselves guilty is a cruel torment, but the very act of approaching the confessional is a symbolic expression of repentance and of seeking divine help.” This may or may not be a true statement. There is actually no way to know if someone approaching the confessional is repentant, unless they actually say so. To assume that simply showing up is an expression of this, is to assume someone else’s interior. To be sure, the Pharisees themselves had their self-esteem wounded by Jesus, and I would think declaring themselves guilty was too cruel a torment for them. Yet, they sought him out. But it wasn’t because of contrition, but pride. Pride wrapped in a cloak of pastoral mercy is still pride, and it is deadly. The unrepentant thief on the cross did not hear the words, “today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:42-43)”, that was only for the thief who expressed remorse.
So where does this leave us? It leaves us knowing the truth, knowing what will come as a result of this, and knowing we must be more like Mary in order to persevere in this Passion. We cannot be compelled to sin, we can say no to sin. If it gets us exiled like Athanasius, then so be it. I won’t leave, but I will be obedient to consequences of bearing witness to the truth.
The other day I went to confession and the Priest told me for my penance to write down the Hail Mary three times and really meditate on each word as I wrote it down. And so I did. This is what stuck out to me;
fruit of thy womb
Jesus’ words came to me, “
“A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” Matthew 7:17-20
The fruit the Blessed Mother bore was God Himself. She is our guiding light in these times of what a creature should do in the face of Passion. Mary is co-redemptrix in that her identity as “the Immaculate Conception” began at her conception as a gift from God through the merits of the cross to come, but it was completed when she stood at the cross as she gifted back to God what always belonged to him – the sacrifice of her Son. She stood trusting in the goodness of God entirely gazing in love, sorrowful, but still loving. This journey from her conception to the cross fulfilled her complete identity as Immaculate Conception, at once full of grace always full of grace, she completed the race, so to speak.
I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8
From his side, the church was born through her and her spousal union with the spirit, the uncreated and created Immaculate Conception; when we are baptized we are gifted part of the Immaculate Conception to be “born again”. If we travel to the cross as she did we reach the fullness of perfection. God wants to perfect his church, the bride. And I think we are headed in that direction, but the question is, will we be perfected, or will we give up in despair when we see the signs of the times? I like to ask myself, in the players that were present for the Passion, which one will I be? I would love to be Mary, but she was singular in her perfection as a creature. Many of these players struggled, but it was Judas who despaired didn’t get the crown. We refer to the others as Saints. We are different from them, but we have years of sanctifying grace from the Sacraments and we have the Communion of Saints and the Rosary.
We’re in for a wild ride. Focus on His Holy Face and Trust. Pray for the Pope, Bishops and Priests. Repair, Fast and Pray like never before. God’s plans are bigger than we can imagine. May God Bless you all.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18
Veil of Veronica 
Pope Francis’ replies are from July 11, one day after the first version of the five dubia on July 10. There seems to be some confusion about this, creating the erroneous impression that these replies address the reformulated yes/no dubia of August 21: this second version was not (yet) replied to, and because of this, the cardinals published both versions, but initially without the replies, which the Vatican then published.
ah – okay. Thank you for the clarification. Yes very confusing, as all things these days seem to be. Good grief.
Unfortunately, I can’t disagree with a word you wrote, Susan. “May you live in interesting times”. Some think that phrase is a blessing, but it’s actually a curse and a curse is what we have brought upon ourselves with these times are poised to become very “interesting”
Hello,
Thank you for your writings, all of them! Very interesting and my thoughts also. A question: When a priest or bishop prays or blesses at Mass where we pray in union with the pope, where does that leave us in these troubled and confusing times?
Blessings, Nancy Nelson
Get Outlook for Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg ________________________________
There is no problem to pray in union with the Pope. We are in union. When we pray that we are praying a unity prayer of the church.
Even if they’re are disagreements our prayer should always be for unity
In reading this post, the great exult that is sung at every Easter vigil came to mind wherein we seem to be praising sin, itself: “Oh happy fault”…
It is obvious that the pope loves all people, including those who are in same sex relationships which is consistent with his office as Vicar of Christ. I love them too!
Christs mission on earth is “mercy” rather than judgment. He said so Himself. It is dangerous to dissect and analyze the holy father’s words and thereby “judge” his intent…
I leave that to the magesterium and the working of the Holy Spirit!
we definitely don’t get to judge intent, that is up to God. We definitely should love all people and work for their conversion (baptize all nations as Christ commissioned the Apostles to do).
We do get to see fruit of action. Mercy is not false. It is not mercy to bless sin. That’s actually a rejection of mercy when you try to bless that which you should be sorrowful for and convert from. Rejecting mercy is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Time will tell what this all leads to. You shall know them by their fruits..
But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when desire has conceived, it engenders sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. 1 James 1:14-15
It is truly a blessing that you have the ability (gift) of seeing sin with such clarity. I hope and pray that I will one day have such clairvoyance of my own sins, although with each passing day they are becoming clearer and clearer in my ongoing journey toward the Lord!
It was not always so though! There was a time when I was so steeped in sin that I could not see ANY light! One cannot know the “depth” of the darkness that I was in. Darkness begets darkness! Then it happened. Someone loved me “right where I was” without demanding or even expecting any change of me. It was a love that literally “rescued” me from my very self! Thankfully there was someone (actually several people) who was able to show me that “unconditional” love of God! It’s that same sort of love that I see in this pope for ALL people. May God bless you and your ministry always!
Yes thats what we all seek, to be accepted and loved and the Lord extends that always. This is part of what I do in ministry in RCIA. Loving someone where they are is part of the call to help them move forward. That’s separate from blessing what they’re doing. God is a gentleman and doesn’t force us to change its an invitation, and once we know we’re loved we move to change. The years since the 2nd Vatican Council left a blur – lost teaching of right from wrong – many who come to me in RCIA have zero clue that what they’re doing is sinful. I often think of St Paul in Corinth and Athens and how they all practiced worship of Aphrodite and had temple sex slaves as a form of worship. Girls as young as six used as slaves in the temple. Orgy as worship. Paul had his work cut out for him. He found the common ground in their “altar to an unknown God (Acts 17:23) and he converted a people with clarity of truth because you could see his love. He later presents them as a “pure and holy virgin.”
I always tell my class that I am not there to judge them. I inform them and the Holy Spirit convicts them. I know it’s an absolute great responsibility for me – if I don’t love I have failed – If I don’t teach the truth – I have failed.
It’s not an either or. It’s a both and.
Blessing sin sets us up for major persecution. Priests could be jailed for hate crimes.
When you’re dealing with individuals you love them and walk with them to truth. When you are dealing with anti-Christ agenda that’s demonic in origin you speak with clarity and truth especially if you’re in a place of authority.
Susan, your words imply that the pope would consider blessing sin. This idea cannot be further from the truth. He has never even suggested such a thing! However many media reports have said he did…even Catholic ones! THAT is my main concern.
If Jesus said to Mathew (or Martha) “I’ll have dinner with you after you change your lifestyle” – how would that have played out?
When we “forget” our own need for unconditional love, we tend to place conditions on loving others!
I didn’t say the Pope endorsed blessing sin, it’s not my words that imply it, it is his own words that imply it because his dubia answer seemed to leave the door open to it. The fact that the media got it wrong speaks to the problem, there’s no clarity. It is in the lack of clarity, where governments can interpret his meaning and then charge Priests with hate crimes. His answer to the dubia was ambiguous and could be interpreted that way. That’s why the 5 Cardinals asked for clarification, a yes or no answer. We will see how he responds. As I said in the article, I hope he responds with clarity. I suspect he won’t answer at all.
And lastly, Matthew actually did change on the spot, he left his post immediately to follow Jesus, so yeah I think the call to change his lifestyle was clear and the conversion began already. Jesus’ love compelled change. People wanted to be better when they met him because uncoditional love is love that purifies from sin and elevates you higher. God’s goodness elevates us beyond our fallen nature, but many don’t believe that.
I think that the 5 cardinals would find their answers in the CCC…
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2352.htm
Yes they will, but they are asking for the Pope to uphold that. Do you think it’s wrong to ask for upholding of truth from the Pope? Paul corrected Peter. Do you think that was wrong?
Privately, yes. But to turn it into a media circus? No. Absolutely not!
That’s interesting. I remember when I fought the graphic sex education at my local high school. I did my best to keep everything private. The stonewalling and forced curriculum astonished me. I was blocked from meeting the Bishop many times. Finally, one day while in adoration, I simply said, “Lord, if you want me to make this public, then you have to have a reporter call me,” my thought process was that that would never happen. As I pulled home from my visit to adoration, my phone rang, and it was a reporter. My story went public and I was accused of airing dirty laundry and harming the church. I was called not Catholic.
If dirty laundry wasn’t sometimes aired, pedophiles would still be in the Priesthood raping children. I know that’s an extreme example, but the point is, the Pope’s public comments don’t exist in a vacuum. They have real world consequences to those of us who try to minister in truth and love and who often get his words thrown in our faces. You are correct to always interpret in light of tradition and to interpret the best in him. But we must also do the same of others, like the Cardinals. Otherwise, then they get judged on their intent which we should not do.
We would be remiss to think that these Cardinals did not pray ardently asking the Lord what he wanted. You’re always willing to give the Pope the benefit of the doubt, what about those who have concerns? Do they not deserve the same?
Sometimes the Lord makes everything transparent. Sometimes that is His will.
Our job is to pray for all involved.
I truly take your concerns to my heart – as I do anyone who is struggling to understand the depth of this pope’s statements and leadership…
The main fact that is imperative to grasp is that he IS the pope! There seems to have been a tremendous “loss” in respect for not just this pope but his office too. THAT is very concerning!
It’s important to bear in mind that Jesus said many things that are STILL not fully understood to this very day! Imagine how the early Christian’s felt about some of the profound statements that He had said before there were any such “commentaries” made available by Spirit guided interpreters about them through the Holy Spirit!
If we believe that Pope Francis is guided by the Holy Spirit, who are we to “insist” on clarity???
Even Nicodemus thought it absurd when Jesu said we must be born again!
Understanding the Holy Spirit’s promptings and teachings are NOT something we can simply expect or demand! Understanding, itself, is a gift of the Holy Spirit that may or may not come in one’s lifetime!
Our task is to subject ourselves to the authority of the church, of which the pope is the head, and to love God and our neighbor…
We cannot do that if we busy ourselves with “fixing” things, especially the church! The TRUE peace and serenity is thankfully available to each of us in the sacraments, thanks to our priests! If we simply spend an adequate amount of time with Jesus in the sacraments, all else becomes unimportant. Jesus is the answer to ALL our problems!
I wonder what Saint Athanasius would say? He was exiled by Pope Liberius who supported the Arians which was, of course, a heresy. Should he have not spoken up? Understanding what infallibility is is also key, it is not a statement that the Pope makes no mistakes or errors. The Holy Spirit is allowing ALL of this. In your example with Nicodemus, Nicodemus, who didn’t understand clearly what Jesus was saying, asked the question, and Jesus answered him and clarified, “born again of water and the spirit,” the exchange was how it should be.
Additionally, we are to pray and receive the Sacraments, as you say, but not all God’s work is passive, sometimes he calls to action.
Who are we to say he didn’t call the Dubia Cardinals to action so the flock isn’t left confused? None of this means the papacy isn’t respected (though there are those who are disrespectful).
Also, Remember the catechism actually says the church will go through what Christ went through. This time period is difficult for all. What you interpret as “fixing”, I interpret as fraternal correction, the way Paul corrected Peter. Though my understanding is that these Cardinals were not allowed to meet with the Pope, so there’s no face to face relationship happening, which I cannot understand. I can say that was exactly what happened to me. I was not allowed to meet with my Bishop.
I don’t know what to think except that these are strange times.
I think the misunderstanding is that asking for clarity is somehow an offense? I do not find it offensive. I am grateful.
In all, we pray.
I think we have exhausted the conversation. Peace be with you.
Thank you for your words of hope. As these past 2 days have unfolded and in the insuing 3 weeks I hear God asking me to “fast and pray”. I encourage all to do the same.
We do not judge but we are to be fruit inspectors!! Pax et Bonum!!
God Bless you!