Obedience and Diabolical Disorientation

Recently I was invited to the wedding of a friend in Italy. Knowing that I only attend the Latin Tridentine Rite of Mass, my friend advised me his wedding vows would be taken in the parish church of his fiancée and the ceremony would be the Novus Ordo, not the Tridentine Mass. He added that the priest is very elderly (old enough to have been ordained when there was no Novus Ordo) and conservative.

When I asked my friend if he had requested the Tridentine Mass, he answered in the affirmative and then said, “but the priest tried to discourage me by saying very few attend this Mass and the many young people coming to the wedding would be unfamiliar with it.”

Then my friend asked the priest – “What if I insist?” The priest advised – “It is not a good idea, the bishop will not be happy, he might give us a hard time.”

My friend asked – “What about the Motu Proprio?”

Priest – “Yes, the Pope said that but you know it’s also the bishop...”

For the last four decades many who have clung to the Mass of all time have been ridiculed, falsely accused of being in schism, and most of all falsely accused of being “disobedient” to the “magisterium, since the old Mass is outlawed”. Of course none of that was true and the accused were aware of that. They did not need a Pope to tell them that the Tridentine Rite of Mass was not abrogated or outlawed, nor, in fact, could it ever be so, since there is an infallible definition attached to it.

Nonetheless, after 40 years of finger pointing, it was good to finally have a Pope come forward and publicly exonerate the accused and indeed instruct the accusers in the truth about the Mass, by issuing a Motu Proprio which set the record straight, instructing all of the Church that the Tridentine Rite of Mass has never been abrogated and then further declaring that any priest — without needing the permission of his bishop (which has never been needed according to Church teaching) — may offer the Latin Mass.

After the Motu Proprio one would think that there would be no further discussion, especially since the Pope has spoken, and he simply established what has always been.

But the above-mentioned situation with my friend is not unusual. Similar scenarios have been reported taking place in dioceses in different countries. It has been reported that some bishops have declared outright that they will not obey.

Interesting but sad that some, who were so ready to accuse Catholics in the past of not obeying because they were going to the Tridentine Mass or requesting the Tridentine Mass, suddenly don’t recognize true obedience for what it is.

Sister Lucy (one of seers of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima) spoke about the diabolical disorientation in the Church. In line with this disorientation is what seems to be a false idea of obedience. As soon as the Pope, or the bishop, or the parish priest speaks, it doesn’t matter what is said, we have heard and often still hear the words from the lips of many — “obedience, we must obey, he has spoken”, without making a distinction or discernment about what has been said.

Now that after 40 years a Pope has actually said something that requires obedience, some of the same finger pointing, accusatory proponents of obedience at all costs suddenly seem to be intentionally struck dumb and completely ignorant of the fact that here is something that really must be obeyed.

The example given above seems, objectively speaking, more indicative of a priest who perhaps does not want to say the Tridentine Rite of Mass. But other stories reported by Catholics are that many priests are still citing their bishops as the problem. Either the priests themselves are so totally ignorant of what true obedience is — a definite possibility given the lack of Catholic formation in schools and in the seminaries since the 1970's — or perhaps they don’t want to offer the Tridentine Mass, or they are so terrorized by their bishop that it doesn’t seem to matter even if they understand what true obedience is.

Blind obedience and false obedience are two sides of the same coin. And the issue in question pertains to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that is, the Mass of all time, the Mass that made great saints. It is a very serious issue to be ignoring. Disobeying the Pope in this matter is not the same as some child refusing a parent’s request to pick up his toys.

We Catholics had better wake up before it is too late and help our fellow Catholics out of bed, even if it means putting a stick of dynamite under their mattresses! The crises in the world and in the Church, starting with the Mass, will not be resolved without the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which God Himself made clear is what is necessary for world peace and the salvation of souls, which is what the Catholic Church is supposed to be all about.

How many more signs does the Almighty have to give to make people realize the annihilation of nations Our Lady of Fatima spoke about is on our doorstep? Just as Our Lady warned us at Fatima would happen if the requests made by God through Her were ignored, God has allowed as punishment World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, the war in Afghanistan and a multitude of other wars, Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami (December 2004), the Twin Towers, genocide and atrocious crimes in various parts of the world.

Apparently that was not enough to wake us up so we would obey. So now the American economy is about to collapse and the world economy will be right behind it; war drums can be heard and smoke signals are rising in the Middle East with nuclear threats; horrible crimes are being committed in Zimbabwe and other parts of the world; the U.S. is being inundated by natural disasters of all kinds... What does it take??

We must pray for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which will not happen until the Pope and bishops obey Our Lady of Fatima and do what She requested, that is, the Consecration of Russia. And the Consecration of Russia will not occur until the Church hierarchy obey Our Lady’s directives and reveal the full Third Secret of Fatima to the world. And neither of these two things will occur unless and until Catholic faithful obey and do as the Mother of God requested: reform our lives, pray the Rosary daily, make the First Saturdays Communion of Reparation, offer sacrifices for sinners, and pray a great deal for the Holy Father.  And what virtue is being practiced in doing this? OBEDIENCE.