Showing all posts by Elija

 

In the sense of ‘discretio’ it is inescapable to face the current crisis in the Church, for how else would we draw the right conclusions to face it as disciples of the Lord? If we ignore it, we will continue to behave as if nothing has changed, and we will end up becoming carriers of modernist errors ourselves. If we even agree with such errors, then, without realising it, we are working on the side of those who want to destroy the Church or transform it into a humanitarian institution, as the philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand so aptly described it. If we remain silent when we see errors, we should take to heart the words of Pope Felix III: “Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it”.

On the other hand, the realisation that the ecclesiastical hierarchy has embarked on a wrong course should not shake us or confuse us to the point of leading us to resignation or to leave the Church and join another denomination. That would be the wrong conclusion. The Catholic Church remains the Church founded by Christ, even when attacked from within and without.

Read More

In yesterday’s meditation, as we delved into the discernment of spirits, we pointed out some drifts of the ecclesiastical hierarchy which can concretely affect the lives of the faithful. But what is even more tragic is the fact that the face of the Church is being distorted in such a way that, instead of being a beacon of the Gospel for the nations, in many areas it is adapting itself to the spirit of the world.

We need to be constantly reminded that the primary task of the Church is to bring people the salvation that the Heavenly Father offers them. In other words, evangelisation, as it has been understood until now, is about the salvation of souls. Man is not able to save himself from his misery, but needs God’s grace, which is offered to him in Jesus Christ. Once he has accepted faith, the Church accompanies the believer with all the means that God has entrusted to her.

Read More

Applying ‘discretion’ as it is understood in ecclesiastical terminology, we have first of all turned our attention to the current situation in the Church. Yesterday’s meditation concluded with some reflections by the philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand, characterised by his gift for discernment. Without adopting extreme positions, he did observe with great precision the harmful tendencies in the Church, especially after the Second Vatican Council.

Hildebrand and others pointed out that the profusion of negative post-conciliar developments could not be explained simply as isolated errors, but that the enemies of the Church set out to destroy it from within or to transform it into a kind of humanitarian institution. The latter is particularly dangerous, because it may not be immediately noticed, thinking that it is a Christian humanism, as in the case of the encyclical Fratelli tutti, which is capable of confusing the faithful.

Read More

The aim of our Lenten meditations is to become better disciples of the Lord, disciples who, with great conviction, bear witness to the love of our Father in these difficult times. His love has been revealed to us in a unique way in His Son Jesus Christ.

Thanks to the Desert Fathers, we have come to know the term “discretion”, which has a broad meaning related to “discernment of spirits”. Discretion thus helps us to distinguish prudently between the good and the bad, the true and the false, the authentic and the artificial. Later we will apply this concept to the spiritual life as well, when we look at how we can live our spiritual life wisely so that it bears much fruit.

Read More

A clarification for all those who listen to my daily meditations and have accompanied us on this journey through the Gospel of John up to the moment when Pilate, the Roman procurator, yielded to the pressure of Jesus’ enemies and handed Him over to be crucified: as I mentioned in yesterday’s meditation, since the subsequent passages would have led directly to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Lord, I have decided to postpone them until they coincide with the events we commemorate in the liturgical seasons that are approaching.

The series on the Gospel of John has been a very fruitful journey with the Lord, one that has brought great joy and gratitude for all that He has done to glorify His beloved Father and for our salvation. His holy words and instructions to the disciples and to all those who listened with open hearts left a deep impression.

Read More