“When the Church becomes worldly, when she has the spirit of the world within herself … it is a weak Church, a defeated Church, unable to transmit the Gospel, the message of the Cross, the scandal of the Cross ... She cannot transmit this if she is worldly,” Pope Francis preached April 30 at his daily Mass.

Pope Francis based his homily on today’s Gospel reading from John 14 in which Jesus says to the disciples, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.’

Jesus also encouraged the disciples not to be afraid or troubled, because although he would soon go to the Father and that would involve “the ruler of the world” appearing to have power over him, he would return.

Pope Francis zeroed in on the moment of Christ’s Passion and how it related to the Church today, as he addressed staffers from the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See who were present at the Mass.

“The prince of the world comes but can do nothing against me: if we don’t want the prince of this world to take the Church into his hands, we must entrust it to the One who can defeat the prince of this world,” he stated.

And this raises the question: “do we pray for the Church, for the entire Church? For our brothers and sisters whom we do not know, everywhere in the world?” he asked.

It is “easy to pray for the grace of the Lord,” “to thank him” for blessings or to ask him for things we need, the Pope noted, but our prayers should also include our fellow believers who have “received the same Baptism.”

“Can we safeguard the Church, can we cure the Church, no? We do so with our work, but what’s most important is what the Lord does: he is the only one who can look into the face of evil and overcome it,” he said.

Pope Francis stressed that this way of praying is “also an act of faith” because it acknowledges that God alone can protect the Church and make it holy. ??If Catholics entrust the Church to Christ, including those who are experiencing “great tribulations and persecutions,” he “will give us … the peace that only He can give,” he said.

“May the Lord make us strong so we do not lose faith, so we do not lose hope.”

Offering the Church to the Lord, the Pope concluded, “will do us and the Church good. It will give us great peace (and although) it will not rid us of our tribulations, it will make us stronger in our sufferings.”

It all happened in great secrecy, with maximum confidentiality. In January, the postulator of the cause, Mgr. Slawomir Oder, submitted a presumed miraculous healing to the Vatican Congregation for the Saints for a preliminary opinion. As it is known, after the approval of a miracle for the proclamation of a blessed, the canonical procedures include the recognition of a second miracle that must have occurred after the beatification ceremony.

Two doctors of the Vatican council had previously examined this new case, and both gave a favourable opinion. The dossier with the medical records and the testimonies was then officially presented to the Congregation, which immediately included the examination in its agenda. In the past few days it was discussed by a committee of seven doctors, the council (presided over by Dr. Patrick Polisca, Pope John Paul II's cardiologist), Pope Benedict XVI's personal physicians and now Pope Francis's. The medical council also gave a favourable opinion, the first official go-ahead by the Vatican, by defining as inexplicable the healing attributed to the intercession of the blessed Karol Wojtyla.

This is the overcoming of the first fundamental hurdle, given that the alleged miracle must now be approved by theologians and then by the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation, before being subjected to the Pope for the definitive "yes". In any case, the approval of the council is considered the most important step; in fact, neither the theologians nor the cardinals are involved in the clinical evaluations concerning the case.

From the steps taken, the desire of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to work quickly is evident, as it had already happened for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, celebrated by his successor Benedict XVI the 1st of May, 2011. This fast lane that continues to be open for Wojtyla indicates that even Pope Francis is in favour of the canonisation of the Polish Pope.

It is still premature to talk about dates for the canonization, but the rapidity with which the examination of the miracle process is happening still leaves open the possibility of celebrating it on Sunday October 20th, very close to the liturgical holiday assigned to the blessed Wojtyla, which is on October 22nd.

[original source]

During the second half of the miniseries' two-hour finale, which featured the resurrection of Jesus, "The Bible" received a viewership of 12.32 million viewers, beating out "The Walking Dead," which had ratings of 12.29 million.

As Entertainment Weekly notes, "The Walking Dead" viewership rose slightly to 12.4 million viewers if you count the entire 65 minute telecast.

"It's a strong performance for the religious miniseries that few expected to be a ratings competitor," James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly wrote of the religious-themed miniseries produced by Mark Burnett of "Survivor" fame and his wife, Roma Downey, of "Touched by an Angel."

As Variety points out, Nielsen ratings reveal that both "The Walking Dead" and "The Bible" combined received a 24.5 million person viewership, which topped the ratings of all entertainment telecasts for the "Big Four" television networks, ABC, FOX, CBS, and NBC.

Additionally, as The Christian Post previously reported, the finale of "The Bible" garnered 3.8 million viewers among adults ages 18 to 49 and 4.6 million viewers among adults ages 25 to 54, according to Nielsen ratings.

The great success of "The Bible," along with a select few other shows, such as "Vikings," has caused the History Channel to be the top cable network, both in total viewership and among adults and men ages 25 to 54, for the month of March.

"The Bible" achieved record-breaking ratings when it premiered March 3, scoring a viewership of over 13 million.

In the weeks that followed, the miniseries, which re-tells important biblical events, fell slightly in the ratings, but always maintained a strong number above 10 million each week.

The miniseries' producers, Burnett and Downey, recently told The Wall Street Journal that they see their miniseries as "just the beginning" for something much bigger.

"Last night Roma and I said to ourselves, this is just the beginning," Burnett recently told the Journal, adding that he is planning to dub "The Bible" into Spanish, as well as looking at international distribution sales or the miniseries, among other things.

"This series has a much bigger life […] I see it as this generation's 'Ten Commandments'," Burnett added.

[original source]

What then to do with our dismay and anger? It is too easy to vent anger, which is not only unproductive, but in the current state of “hyper-tolerance” for all things gay, angry denunciations are counter-productive.

Rather our anger should be directed to a wholehearted embrace and living out of the biblical vision of human sexuality and marriage. Our anger should be like an energy that fuels our zeal to live purity, and speak of its glory to a confused and out-of-control culture.

The fact is, traditional marriage has been in a disgraceful state for over 50 years, and heterosexual misbehavior has been off the hook in the same period. And, if we are honest, heterosexual misbehavior and confusion has been largely responsible for bringing forth the even deeper confusion and disorder of homosexual activity, and particularly the widespread approval of it.

We have sown the wind, and now reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7).

Our anger, dismay and sorrow are better directed inward toward our own conversion to greater purity as a individuals, families and parishes, than outward toward people who will only interpret it as “hate” and bigotry” anyway.

A few thoughts to frame our own reflections in how we have gotten to this place of darkness in our culture.

1.  The fundamental flaw in modern thinking about human sexuality, the “Ur” (root) problem, is the (sinful) declaration that there is “no necessary connection” between human sexual activity and procreation. Here is the real taproot of modern confusion about human sexuality and all the disorders that flow from it. Such notions began as early as 1930 in the Lambeth Conference where the Church of England was the first Christian Denomination to serious brook this sinful notion. The thinking gained steam through the 1950s, via Margaret Sanger et al. and came to full (and ugly) flower in 1960s with the pill and the sexual revolution.

2. Any 8th grade biology student ought to be able to see the flaw in the “no necessary connection” argument. For if sex has no necessary connection to procreation but can be only for fun or pleasure, then what are the sperm and ova doing there? Did not nature and nature’s God intend some connection. Alas, what even an 8th grader can see, was set aside and/or became unintelligible to a generation obsessed with its passions. Claiming to be wise they became fools and their senseless minds were darkened (Rom 1:22-23)

3. Once the necessary connection between sex and procreation was set aside, contraceptives moved from being something related to prostitution to being a downright “noble” thing to use and promote. Sex became a frivolous plaything and promiscuity became widespread, since the most obvious consequences of sinful, frivolous and out of control behavior, now seemed to be to largely preventable. Promiscuity exploded on the scene and was celebrated in popular culture, in the music, on T.V. and so forth. Enter the further explosion of sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancy, single motherhood and exploding divorce rates. Because guess what? Contraceptives were not full-proof (or should we say “foolproof”). It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature and our “no-necessary connection” insistence  thus ushers in all these disorders.

4. But never mind all that, we didn’t learn, we just doubled-down. Next we put marriage in the shredder by further declaring that there is no necessary connection between marriage and procreation. More pills and condoms please. Divorces continued to skyrocket, as birthrates plummeted.

5. In a parallel trend, single parent families entered the scene in a big way. For if it is true that marriage does not have any necessary connection to children, then apparently having children has no necessary connection to marriage. As single parent families rise, so do juvenile delinquency rates, and teen suicides. SAT scores and graduation rates, however, went down.

6. But never mind all that. What was needed is more condoms! Never mind that contraceptives and the underlying “no necessary connection” distortion ushered all this pain and distortion in. No! what we need is some more hair of the dog that bit us. More contraceptives! The government should promote and provide them free.  In fact, start giving them to children and teens. After all, with decades of sexual misbehavior, who is really able to control themselves? And any one who suggests we ought to try is called puritanical, judgmental, unrealistic and a likely Christian. Let’s add free abortion to the mix and pass laws that permit parents to be kept in the dark when their daughters are taken to abortionists.

OK, you get the point, we heterosexuals have been involved in a down spiraling series of distortions and sexual misbehavior for over fifty years now. And this misbehavior is widespread and even celebrated in our culture.

Add to this terrible picture, the scandalous silence of pulpits, the shrugging over flagrant fornication, cohabitation and high divorce rates by Church leaders, parents, and other community leaders.

Yes, we have sown the wind. And now comes the whirlwind. Enter the “gay” community who have in effect called our bluff and illustrate the absurdity of our “no-necessary connection” philosophy. For, if sex has “no necessary connection” to procreation, and can just be about what pleasures you, or is just your way to show “care” for another, if this is the case, what’s wrong with homosexual behavior? And if marriage is just about two adults being happy and there is “no necessary connection” to procreation, why can’t homosexuals “marry”?

Welcome to the whirlwind. Yes, we heterosexuals have misbehaved for over fifty years now, and, in process dispensed widespread confusion about sex and distorted its purpose. We have loved the darkness, and now the darkness deepens with the obvious absurdity of homosexual “marriage” a misnomer before it is even uttered. But so is contraceptive marriage.

Is Homosexual activity disordered? You better believe it. But so is contraceptive heterosexual activity since it is no longer ordered per se to procreation. In fact, it is rightly argued that contraceptive sex is really just mutual masturbation, it is not true or ordered human sexual activity at all. It is disordered, for it is not ordered to its proper end.

The grave disorder of homosexual acts and the equally grave celebration on them in our culture is a very deep darkness. Scripture calls homosexual activity παρὰ φύσιν “para physin” (contrary to nature – cf Rom 1:26). Any cursory examination of the structure and design of the human body (which is revelation) makes it clear that the man is not for the man, the man is for the woman. The woman is for the man, not another woman. Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? (Mk 8:18)

In Romans 1:17ff St. Paul and the Holy Spirit describe a culture that has gone very dark. For the men of St. Paul’s day “suppressed the truth by their wickedness” (v. 18). And this suppression of the truth led to an ever deepening darkness wherein their thinking became futile and their senseless minds were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (vv 21-22). And darkness led to depravity wherein: God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie…Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in their bodies the due penalty for their error. (v 24-27).

Some Protestant preachers have warned over the years that God would punish this nation for celebrating homosexual activity. But St. Paul’s point is even more poignant: The widespread acceptance of homosexual activity IS God’s punishment. It is a punishment that does not single out homosexuals, it is a punishment on us all. We are collectively very confused, and the darkness grows every deeper. We have sown the wind, we are now reaping the whirlwind.

The faithful Catholic is right to be dismayed and angry. But allow this anger to fuel commitment to living and speaking the truth. Do not direct it merely to wrath or scapegoating. Let this anger fuel your commitment to speak the truth about human sexuality to your children and grandchildren, to be silent no more, embarrassed no more. Speak plainly and boldly, clearly and with charity. But let your anger fuel commitment to the truth, by what you say and how you live. Be angry, but do not sin (Eph 4:26).

Most of us have contributed to the darkness of these times and need to repent. Perhaps we have bought into the lie of contraception and spread it. Perhaps some have been promiscuous. Other too may have been pure, but were too silent to the impurity around them. And having sown the wind, we reap now the whirlwind. It’s time to repent. It’s time to be angry but sin not.

Msgr. Charles Pope
Archdiocese of Washington

Note: Monsignor added some additional comments in an update. These comments can be read on the Archdiocese of Washington web site.

“I am a great sinner. Trusting in the mercy and patience of God, in suffering, I accept.” Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, director of the Vatican Television Center (CTV), revealed those words as the first uttered by Pope Francis when accepting his election as the Supreme Roman Pontiff.

In a press conference held today to announce the release of a DVD produced by CTV on the resignation of Benedict XVI and Francis’ election, Msgr. Viganò said that Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, made known the Holy Father’s first words in an interview on the soon-to-be released DVD.

“Francis - Election of a Pope who Comes from the Ends of the Earth” was produced in collaboration with the Italian station Rai Eri and will be sold along with the local newspaper, Corriere della Sera, on April 2.

Present at the press briefing were Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication, Luigi De Siervo, director of RAI, Ferruccio de Bortoli, director of the Corriere della Sera, and Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office.

Archbishop Celli expressed his “supreme satisfaction” with the documentary, saying that the images collected during this time chronicled a truly significant time in the life of the Church. “We have here a DVD that gathers the last moments of Benedict’s pontificate that are truly historic,” Archbishop Celli said. “I am truly happy and satisfied with this work.”

Before going into depth on the documentary’s content, Msgr. Viganò provided a sneak peek of the first two minutes of the film, which begins with the first puffs of white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signaling the election of the new Roman Pontiff. The film, Msgr. Viganò said, includes interviews of several cardinals.

Prior to the interview, Cardinal Comastri asked Pope Francis’ permission to reveal the newly elected Pontiff’s first words when asked if he accepted his election.

The film also chronicles the resignation of Benedict XVI and his departure from Vatican City on February 28th. Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, the current President of Caritas Internationalis, reveals on the DVD his feelings upon seeing Benedict XVI leave.

“Cardinal Maradiaga speaks of feeling like an orphan when he saw Pope Benedict leave,” Msgr. Viganò said. The CTV director also stated that Cardinal Maradiaga also speaks on the significance of the election of the first Latin American pope.

Also interviewed on the documentary are Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Msgr. Viganò said the DVD concludes with the historical meeting between Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo. The documentary will be made available in four different languages in the near future.

(March 27, 2013) © Innovative Media Inc.