Leo names EWTN’s Alvarado the first laywoman prefect as a Vatican bishop praises Lennon’s Imagine and Catholic schoolgirls wear hijabs at mosque visits.
John Lennon’s "Imagine" is not “the most beautiful song in the world.” In fact it might be the most cringe song in the world. It should be impossible for any Christian to listen to it.
"The president of a Vatican theological academy now speaks as though willingness to die for God is itself the problem." How do we counter such nonsense? Here's an idea: why not pray to ask for some kind of miracle from King Baldwin IV, the Leper King of Jerusalem, who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, and also his own debilitating illness, to defeat Saladin's Muslim forces at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177. Baldwin had only about 375 to 500 knights and a few thousand infantrymen. Saladin commanded a massive army of 26,000 to 30,000 soldiers. Baldwin's charge routed the Muslims, forcing Saladin to flee back to Egypt with only a fraction of his men.
A miracle from Baldwin would be necessary grounds to initiate the process of beatification for him, and later sainthood. He deserves it, both for his valor in battle and his spiritual patience of bearing the terrible illness of leprosy.
Of course canonizing Baldwin is the last thing in the world this Vatican would want to do. But with God nothing is impossible.
To hail that song from John Lennon, who had claimed he was “more popular than Jesus“ or something like that, shows that this bishop is merely another secularist, worldly prelate. In a conversation recently and with AI knowing every single thing we do or purchase, etc., and with all the increased surveillance, I just noted that I hope there would be enough evidence to convict me of being a faithful Catholic. And if it cost me my life, I pray for the strength and grace to die for the love of our Lord and our Lady. Amen.
"And if it cost me my life, I pray for the strength and grace to die for the love of our Lord and our Lady." Amen to that dear sister in Christ. I too am preparing daily with prayer for this strength. It seems to be getting closer with each passing day.
Imagine is a beautiful song, sadly. The disgraceful part is on the lyrics where Lennon wishes there is no religion, no heaven and no hell. That is the old materialist credo: "we believe in our senses and nothing else the rest is useless." Lennon was an intellectual lightweight who thought too much of himself as a thinking person. A very confused man, perhaps because his mother died tragically while he was a small, rejected child living in his auntie's home. His cross was heavy for a nine year old. He ended up living an ambiguous sexuality and dabbling in witchcraft not to mention a very vocal anti-Catholicism in spite of being the nephew of a Catholic priest missioning in New Zealand. I think Lennon blamed God for his own father abandoning him and for the death of his mother which he interpreted as yet another abandonment ("mother, you had me but I never had you.") On the matter of that unfortunate comment, "we are more popular than Jesus" I recommend to watch the interview (available on YouTube I am sure.) There John was =>decrying<= the fact that kids were more interested in some passing pop stars than in Jesus. Lennon was not promoting Christianity at all but admired Christ as a true moral model, a non-hypocrite. In a rather twisted way that may be the root of his kamikaze sincerity who got him in trouble so many times. I grew up listening to their music. Like many of that generation I got more interested in guitars than in knives and guns. In fact, juvenile delinquency dropped dramatically in England during Beatlemania. Their songs were for the most part about love. Compare them with rap and you will see what I mean. Rap is heavily associated with crime and gangs. Remember TB started with three Catholic boys in 1958. I've been offering Masses for them since 2004. My way to thank them for what they unwittingly did for me. My long life interest in music stems from their influence. Most likely I would have been a criminal if it was not for them. John, George and Paul were/are our Catholic brothers. Pray for their salvation and mine as well. We were all children of a uniquely challenged generation.
I truly do appreciate your charitable attempt at understanding other's misfortune and circumstances but it seems there is a certain sentimentalism rather than intellectual honesty to it. Too bad you don't mention the montage on the cover to the Sgt. Pepper's album and their mature choices in lives full of vices that their baptisms did not re-orient nor any hint that grace was responded to. They were the negative role models and influencers for millions of souls at risk, their catchy kitschy tunes not nearly as harmless as imagined in ushering in the plague of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and without a single hint of regret. Keep praying, judge not, but don't whitewash.
I don't deny your assertions at all. You are correct, they were part of their age. The very Popes of that age were not helping. I try to rescue the part that was good for me and for other boys too. I always say that from that age of "drugs, sex, and rock'n'roll" I barely got some rock'n'roll and --fortunately-- none of the rest. Were you aware in those days? It was nearly impossible to fight the spirit of that age. Was Lennon morally worse or better than Cole Porter, Sinatra or Elvis, for instance? I disagree on the charge of sentimentalism. My nostalgia is limited to the music and innocence lost. Think of the Popes of that era. Were they really spreading the teachings of Christ? Unfortunately I know better. They were given much and much will be asked of them. You cannot pin the expulsion of Christ from public life on the Beatles. Look at the rulings of the SCOTUS of 1960. When I recall those days --the post-war days-- I have the feeling that we were all sheep without a shepherd. And I am not whitewashing. Your accusation is baseless there. Hardly anyone talks about Lennon's sexual confusion (to put it charitably) but I did. The youth of those days took them as examples because we were as abandoned as Lennon was. I say that dispassionately. I do not miss that part. I don't whitewash anything, not even my own feelings. May be we should keep praying and remember that "with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. (St Matthew 7:2) or in other words "the love you give is equal to the love you'll get ..."
Appreciate your thoughts. I detect or read into them a hint of victimization, i.e. abandonment, and I personally refuse to blame society, the Beatles, SCOTUS, popes, or anyone else for my failings in that era (far worse than yours) even though I have a strong desire to do so.
Sex, drugs, and some version of rock and roll have been ubiquitous in human history but where the Beatles, and others, were at the forefront of was rejecting whatever Catholicity some members may have been brought up with and saying those desires were okay, again with no hint at any point in their lives of retraction. I am not anti any individual Beatle. But they willingly acquiesced to promoting the deCatholicizing of society, and I am unaware of any expressed public regret for doing so. I hope they did so privately.
A lyric like "The love you give is equal to the love you'll get" underscores that sentimentality/whitewashing, and you might be hard pressed to argue that the love they spoke of and lived was rooted in agape love, the one we will be judged on. If we don't know the Trinity and love the Trinity, I worry that all other love is in vain, especially when brought up with the knowledge of the Trinity and abandoning the Same. Again, re-examine the cover of Sgt. Pepper's.
I am not offended at all. Apologies not needed. Definitely, that Sgt Pepper cover presents a veritable gallery of rogues. There is no victimization --that may be your perception but the poor kid was left out of his mother's life and was abandoned by his father. You say you refuse to blame society etc. but indeed you can blame the Beatles for the Fall of the West if you wish but they were some badly catechized kids like all of us were about that time. The correct line is "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make..." which is a somewhat atrocious attempt at philosophy. Agreed: Aquinas they were not. Four ignorant kids with a good beat who could sell records. In the end, that is all they were.
I called the lyrics "disgraceful." Please read my comment again. A beautiful melody with disgraceful lyrics. The same can be said of "La Marseillaise" and so many other popular pieces. I do not listen to "Imagine" because that part bothers me. BTW I wonder why two commenters have responded to things I did not write. And please do not start a semantic discussion. Just read it. It is a harmless comment. The current Pope says more harmful things and no one bats an eyelash!
Pardon me. It was not my intent to insult you, just make a statement with a different perspective. In re-reading, you said it was a beautiful song. I disagree. I completely agree that Prevost intentionally makes remarks that are far worse as they are an insult to God. Pax Domini vobiscum.
No apologies needed. I am not offended at all. May be I should apologize for not being clear. Songs have two main parts: melody and lyrics. If you take away the lyrics you are left with the melody. I meant to say the melody is good but the lyrics are frankly stupid Liberal blah.
Our Catholic brothers? You do know that they were all into the occult? That's putting it politely but one doesn't 'accidentally' put Aleister Crowley on an album cover, and if you put him on, it's because you're making a point. I believe Lennon was very keen on him. There's a lot more information about all this available online.
They are our brothers in Baptism, a Sacrament by means of which they were received into the Catholic Church as babies. I am aware of the monstrosities they committed. Yes, Lennon was into Crowley's deplorable witchcraft. I know through a personal acquaintance that he repented of all his sins and asked for forgiveness. That confession occurred at his home in NYC a few months before his death. I do not know what God thought of or did with that repentance. My own mother lived a whole life of sin and debauchery. The poor thing came to Christ only days before her death. Her "record" makes Lennon's look like a bad day at kindergarten. Imagine! But she availed herself of the Sacrament of Confession. When compared with Jesus we are all so imperfect that the differences between us are nearly nothing. Lennon and his friends -willingly or not- steered my life to positive things, away from crime for instance. Please allow me to be grateful. I do not know what God will do with them. We just shared some music. I am not their judge nor anybody's judge. Vinctus sum. Deus judex meus est.
BTW I learned my first words of English from them and here we are dialoguing in English. May God have mercy on their souls, your soul and my soul since I am in most need of His mercy. Happy are those who don't need God's mercy for salvation. Honestly, I don't think any of us are in that category,
Many of those fans barely knew who Jesus was. I would not blame that ignorance on pop music. But some self righteous Bible thumper got hold of that phrase and the rest is history. Actually, Lennon was right in decrying the vulgar and decadent madness of those crowds and their ignorance. Anyone listening to the whole interview can see he was not at fault. He said his bit calmly but the vociferous crowds burning LPs in the public square did not look like a gathering of Christians to me. Watch the videos ...
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." When mere men start behaving like prosecutors I for one know what is pushing them to act that way. We all feel secure when "the other" sits in the dock! (Safe for me!) I am not here to save or condemn Lennon. He behaved like a pig (regretfully I behaved like a pig many times) but I am asking the whole Church: when are we going to behave like people who's intention is to save as many souls as possible? Jesus did that. Read the Gospel. What would Jesus had done with Lennon (or me or you) when Lennon was bleeding on the sidewalk of the Dakota? I dare to say Jesus would have cured him and gained him for the Kingdom. Jesus would have looked into Lennon's eyes and told him "Sin no more." In the words of "Watching the Wheels" one can see his conversion and escape from Liberal thinking. His assassin said that was the reason he killed Lennon: "He betrayed us and abandon us" by turning into some kind of pro family Howdy Doody. Conversion cost Lennon everything he had. He was left alone in front of God... like starting over.
Hear, hear. It could be argued that record set in motion my own long con/reversion, as if reparations were being made.
Maturity is conversion, and that last record was the record of an idealistic young man who grew up and became a man: a husband, a father, an artist. Like the artist he was, he shared it with us.
What really pissed the crazies off was the infectious joy it brought him.
Yes. He recognized Christ and asked for forgiveness. There are witnesses. And at least one Catholic visionary in Austria said he was on his way to Heaven. 1 Corinthians 3:15
That story of Baldwin and his knights was proof that God does intervene when He wills it. Anyone with any knowledge of warfare knows it is normally impossible to defeat an enemy when they have such a tremendous numerical superiority. Add to that the fact that the knights had just made a strenuous journey through desert with inadequate supplies of water so they and their horses were exhausted before the battle even started. What chroniclers of that event wrote was that the horses seemed imbued with an extraordinary strength and spirit as they never slowed nor cowed at the enemy, but charged and kept charging until the enemy was routed. Numbers of dead are uncertain but estimates were that Baldwin's forces of ~1500 men killed over 20,000 of Saladin's forces, who were battle hardened veterans. There is no doubt in my mind it was a miracle from God.
Increasingly, it seems Catholics don’t need the Vatican. Or Cardinals. Bureaucrats thrive on the budget. Americans should simply stop donating. At all. It won’t take long.
I must have been missing something. I thought "Imagine" was an explicitly atheist dirge:
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
OK, so Bishop Antonio Staglianò says that John Lennon is right? I guess that His Grace is not 100% serious - he does not really want the Church wound up as a vacuous fraud and then spend the rest of his life stacking shelves at the local supermarket. I am sure that he and all his collegues from Leo down think that their incomes and nice Vatican apartments are guaranteed for life. If the suckers stop giving, there is plenty of real estate and investments.
Our ecumenical partners the Anglicans offer lots of reassuring examples. There was the Bishop of Woolwich, John Robinson. In 1963 one cruel reviewer of his "Honest to God" declared that Dr Robinson was plainly an atheist. Which did not end his career. And there was the riotously funny Bishop of Durham who did not believe in the Virgin Birth and declared that the Resurrection was not a conjuring trick with bones. Relax, the Church of England is also well endowed.
Plainly Bishop Antonio Staglianò is a good son of Pope Francis who declared that God would gather all mankind into a giant tent to live with them there forever. Hell was abolished for all practical purposes. Why bother with missionary work or martyrdom or worship when everyone is going to be saved anyway, whether they believe or not?
"Nothing to kill or die for.. " I don't know if Lennon had read any modern history. But the various atheist Communist regimes had already inflicted a mindbending amount of death and suffering on the innocent. Plenty of the perpetrators and victims were still around at the time of Lennon's death in 1980.
But then I recall that old atheist Bertrand Russell explaining why the Communists were so cruel. They were introducing a new religion.....
Vatican 2 Sect is just another protestant church, they can do whatever they want. I will not be surprised if Prevost allow women to be ordained as deacons or priest.
That "Bishop" needs to be laicized immediately. How soon before he praises LENIN??? Give it a few months or weeks. NOT sarcasm, Chris, I was having to explain to my cousins' children's friends the difference between Lennon and Lenin. And they live in Florida, for goodness sakes.
More like yesterday, but yes, definitely laicized... and locked up in a monastery to do hard penance.
On this particular point... is there really a difference between LENIN and LENNON? If Lenin had been alive at the time Lennon put out Imagine, I think Lenin would have declared Imagine to be the Communist anthem. Philosophically, I don't think they were all that different. In other ways, yes they were, but on this point, no.
Our Lady warned us so that we would be prepared to recognize this. Here it is. Our Lady of Fatima, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces, pray for us.
There is something I want to ask you for the first time in a long while... Why don't you criticize the misguided Zionists???? Do you believe that Israel respects the Catholic and Christian communities??? Let me make this clear!!! Misguided Zionists do not respect the Christian community. They oppress Christian communities not only in Israel but also in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Armenia... Are you completely unaware of the atrocities committed by the IDF in Lebanon recently??? Do you know that a French nun was assaulted in Jerusalem????? Why aren't you saying a single word about this?? If you are outraged by the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by heinous Islamic extremist groups, you should naturally be outraged by the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by the misguided Zionists as well. Isn't that common sense??? But why do you look at the behavior of the misguided Zionists as if it doesn't exist??? And it seems you consider Trump, J.D. Vance, and current Republicans to be the lesser of two evils or alternatives, but I will give you a precise rebuttal to that as well!!! Has Trump, J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, or any of the current Republicans ever said a single word of protest regarding the persecution and oppression of Christian communities by those misguided Zionists? If someone is outraged by the persecution and oppression of Christians by heinous Islamic extremists, they should be equally outraged by the exact same actions of fake Zionists. I feel deep disappointment when I see people who claim to be "traditional Catholics" criticizing only Islamic extremists!!!!
I think the Israeli government hates Christianity and they manipulate christians as the muslims do to gain power. I agree with you Israel is an enemy ofChrist.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart... Ah, that is a touching comment... You are absolutely right!! Misguided Zionists do not respect the Christian community at all!!! The atrocities currently being committed by the IDF in Lebanon—destroying Christian villages and churches—as well as the oppression against the Palestinian Christian community and the Christian community within Israel, are at a considerably severe level!!! It is truly absurd that there are so many Christian fools who support these misguided Zionists despite this... As I mentioned in that comment, if one is outraged by the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by heinous Islamic extremist forces, one should naturally firmly oppose the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by misguided Zionists as well; however, it is pathetic that so many people treat the latter as if it does not even exist... Many need to know this truth... Thank you very much... I sincerely pray that the Lord's infinite blessings be with you, and that the prayers of the Sacred Heart of Mary, all the Angels, and the Saints are always with you....
Yes, in my prayers I pray for the conversion of those who persecute Christians, especially Catholics, which includes the communists, the Freemasons, the Muslims, and the Israelis among others. Also, the conversion of those within the Church that persecute the faithful.
Israel is a sovereign state - it's allowed to - and should - defend itself. I could say that I'm horrified when 'catholics' write reams of words against a secular country defending itself whilst never mentioning - or rarely - the horrors perpetrated on Israelis when 1200 were gruesomely tortured and massacred.
Why are you all obsessed with hating Israel? Why don't you talk about the Iranians massacred by their own government? Why don't you talk about the neighbouring Islamic states who support Israel because they know how evil and dangerous the Iranian regime is for both the region in general and the world at large and have been warning Europe and the US for years that they are sleepwalking into destruction?
I've no idea where you get your news from, but perhaps you aren't aware that Jews, Christians, Druze, Muslims and others all live together in Israel and serve together in the armed forces defending their country from those who would destroy it? You think they shouldn't be allowed to do that? Perhaps the U.S. shouldn't be allowed to defend itself either?
This anti-Israel, Zionist, false Zionist ranting (what the heck is a false Zionist anyway?) is fuelled by Satan, exactly like pro-Putin, pro-Russian propagandist hatred of Ukraine is.
It is a great pity with all that could be said to exalt the Holy Name of Jesus, Bishop Antonio Staglianò deliberately chose to channel his inner John Lennon by preaching his take on the Synodal Gospel of Nihilism.
Imagine there’s no isms, I’m not the only one, imagine if everyone could synodal alongside each other. Listening to everyone… imagine there’s no doctrine and we can all just sing along….All the people listening…listening I’m not the only one… listening for the whisper of tomorrow.. I’m not the only one….
As some in Church leadership positions seem to think that gathering and listening to “lived experiences“ is from “the spirit“ and that this is the way to form the new Church, I can tell you that my lived experience in my life included mortal sin, and that was not from the Holy Spirit either.
Well, sadly the Schism is here, it’s just a matter of time to make it official.
1. Frankly, with all the proSodomy-Marxist-proIslam bishops and clerics at the Vatican, I don’t think there’s an abundance of orthodox options among them for the position. However, the fact that Marxist Catholics are ecstatic with that woman, speaks volumes about her. EWTN showed and shows its true feathers when it comes to President Trump. Now I learned who’s behind the agenda.
2. The John Lennon’s Theology is beyond ridiculous. Is there a normal Italian bishop? The Italian conference is infested with Woke Sodomy friendly clerics like Paglia.
3. The Australian Catholic school, is not Catholic. It’s a Woke John Lennon’s Theology institution. Bad for parents paying high private tuitions. We should have a list of “None Catholic” Catholic schools and universities. Jesuits go first in such list.
"The Real Question Nobody Wants to Discuss".... why does anyone care about what non catholics in the vatican do? Prevost and his fellow communists and their false protestant religion have no effect on a faithful Catholic's salvation.
Find a real Catholic church and practice the faith.
What the author rightly criticizes is the modernist counterfeit church that is interwoven within the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, most within and nearly all without the Church can't recognize the distinction.
“Teaching heresy automatically incurs a latae sententiae excommunication in the Catholic Church, meaning the excommunication occurs at the moment the heretical act is committed without needing a formal declaration. This applies to anyone who obstinately denies a truth of the Catholic faith.”
-the moment of “excommunication” will be one of gross obstinacy….
what is being seen is a build to that event.
the Canon is being loaded, the trigger will be pulled.. and there will be a massive explosion..
John Lennon’s "Imagine" is not “the most beautiful song in the world.” In fact it might be the most cringe song in the world. It should be impossible for any Christian to listen to it.
"The president of a Vatican theological academy now speaks as though willingness to die for God is itself the problem." How do we counter such nonsense? Here's an idea: why not pray to ask for some kind of miracle from King Baldwin IV, the Leper King of Jerusalem, who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, and also his own debilitating illness, to defeat Saladin's Muslim forces at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177. Baldwin had only about 375 to 500 knights and a few thousand infantrymen. Saladin commanded a massive army of 26,000 to 30,000 soldiers. Baldwin's charge routed the Muslims, forcing Saladin to flee back to Egypt with only a fraction of his men.
A miracle from Baldwin would be necessary grounds to initiate the process of beatification for him, and later sainthood. He deserves it, both for his valor in battle and his spiritual patience of bearing the terrible illness of leprosy.
Of course canonizing Baldwin is the last thing in the world this Vatican would want to do. But with God nothing is impossible.
To hail that song from John Lennon, who had claimed he was “more popular than Jesus“ or something like that, shows that this bishop is merely another secularist, worldly prelate. In a conversation recently and with AI knowing every single thing we do or purchase, etc., and with all the increased surveillance, I just noted that I hope there would be enough evidence to convict me of being a faithful Catholic. And if it cost me my life, I pray for the strength and grace to die for the love of our Lord and our Lady. Amen.
"And if it cost me my life, I pray for the strength and grace to die for the love of our Lord and our Lady." Amen to that dear sister in Christ. I too am preparing daily with prayer for this strength. It seems to be getting closer with each passing day.
Imagine is a beautiful song, sadly. The disgraceful part is on the lyrics where Lennon wishes there is no religion, no heaven and no hell. That is the old materialist credo: "we believe in our senses and nothing else the rest is useless." Lennon was an intellectual lightweight who thought too much of himself as a thinking person. A very confused man, perhaps because his mother died tragically while he was a small, rejected child living in his auntie's home. His cross was heavy for a nine year old. He ended up living an ambiguous sexuality and dabbling in witchcraft not to mention a very vocal anti-Catholicism in spite of being the nephew of a Catholic priest missioning in New Zealand. I think Lennon blamed God for his own father abandoning him and for the death of his mother which he interpreted as yet another abandonment ("mother, you had me but I never had you.") On the matter of that unfortunate comment, "we are more popular than Jesus" I recommend to watch the interview (available on YouTube I am sure.) There John was =>decrying<= the fact that kids were more interested in some passing pop stars than in Jesus. Lennon was not promoting Christianity at all but admired Christ as a true moral model, a non-hypocrite. In a rather twisted way that may be the root of his kamikaze sincerity who got him in trouble so many times. I grew up listening to their music. Like many of that generation I got more interested in guitars than in knives and guns. In fact, juvenile delinquency dropped dramatically in England during Beatlemania. Their songs were for the most part about love. Compare them with rap and you will see what I mean. Rap is heavily associated with crime and gangs. Remember TB started with three Catholic boys in 1958. I've been offering Masses for them since 2004. My way to thank them for what they unwittingly did for me. My long life interest in music stems from their influence. Most likely I would have been a criminal if it was not for them. John, George and Paul were/are our Catholic brothers. Pray for their salvation and mine as well. We were all children of a uniquely challenged generation.
I truly do appreciate your charitable attempt at understanding other's misfortune and circumstances but it seems there is a certain sentimentalism rather than intellectual honesty to it. Too bad you don't mention the montage on the cover to the Sgt. Pepper's album and their mature choices in lives full of vices that their baptisms did not re-orient nor any hint that grace was responded to. They were the negative role models and influencers for millions of souls at risk, their catchy kitschy tunes not nearly as harmless as imagined in ushering in the plague of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and without a single hint of regret. Keep praying, judge not, but don't whitewash.
I don't deny your assertions at all. You are correct, they were part of their age. The very Popes of that age were not helping. I try to rescue the part that was good for me and for other boys too. I always say that from that age of "drugs, sex, and rock'n'roll" I barely got some rock'n'roll and --fortunately-- none of the rest. Were you aware in those days? It was nearly impossible to fight the spirit of that age. Was Lennon morally worse or better than Cole Porter, Sinatra or Elvis, for instance? I disagree on the charge of sentimentalism. My nostalgia is limited to the music and innocence lost. Think of the Popes of that era. Were they really spreading the teachings of Christ? Unfortunately I know better. They were given much and much will be asked of them. You cannot pin the expulsion of Christ from public life on the Beatles. Look at the rulings of the SCOTUS of 1960. When I recall those days --the post-war days-- I have the feeling that we were all sheep without a shepherd. And I am not whitewashing. Your accusation is baseless there. Hardly anyone talks about Lennon's sexual confusion (to put it charitably) but I did. The youth of those days took them as examples because we were as abandoned as Lennon was. I say that dispassionately. I do not miss that part. I don't whitewash anything, not even my own feelings. May be we should keep praying and remember that "with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. (St Matthew 7:2) or in other words "the love you give is equal to the love you'll get ..."
Thank you for your thoughts.
Appreciate your thoughts. I detect or read into them a hint of victimization, i.e. abandonment, and I personally refuse to blame society, the Beatles, SCOTUS, popes, or anyone else for my failings in that era (far worse than yours) even though I have a strong desire to do so.
Sex, drugs, and some version of rock and roll have been ubiquitous in human history but where the Beatles, and others, were at the forefront of was rejecting whatever Catholicity some members may have been brought up with and saying those desires were okay, again with no hint at any point in their lives of retraction. I am not anti any individual Beatle. But they willingly acquiesced to promoting the deCatholicizing of society, and I am unaware of any expressed public regret for doing so. I hope they did so privately.
A lyric like "The love you give is equal to the love you'll get" underscores that sentimentality/whitewashing, and you might be hard pressed to argue that the love they spoke of and lived was rooted in agape love, the one we will be judged on. If we don't know the Trinity and love the Trinity, I worry that all other love is in vain, especially when brought up with the knowledge of the Trinity and abandoning the Same. Again, re-examine the cover of Sgt. Pepper's.
Do have a wonderful day.
I am not offended at all. Apologies not needed. Definitely, that Sgt Pepper cover presents a veritable gallery of rogues. There is no victimization --that may be your perception but the poor kid was left out of his mother's life and was abandoned by his father. You say you refuse to blame society etc. but indeed you can blame the Beatles for the Fall of the West if you wish but they were some badly catechized kids like all of us were about that time. The correct line is "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make..." which is a somewhat atrocious attempt at philosophy. Agreed: Aquinas they were not. Four ignorant kids with a good beat who could sell records. In the end, that is all they were.
No offense against you, but there is nothing beautiful about denying religion as essential to our salvation.
I called the lyrics "disgraceful." Please read my comment again. A beautiful melody with disgraceful lyrics. The same can be said of "La Marseillaise" and so many other popular pieces. I do not listen to "Imagine" because that part bothers me. BTW I wonder why two commenters have responded to things I did not write. And please do not start a semantic discussion. Just read it. It is a harmless comment. The current Pope says more harmful things and no one bats an eyelash!
Pardon me. It was not my intent to insult you, just make a statement with a different perspective. In re-reading, you said it was a beautiful song. I disagree. I completely agree that Prevost intentionally makes remarks that are far worse as they are an insult to God. Pax Domini vobiscum.
No apologies needed. I am not offended at all. May be I should apologize for not being clear. Songs have two main parts: melody and lyrics. If you take away the lyrics you are left with the melody. I meant to say the melody is good but the lyrics are frankly stupid Liberal blah.
Our Catholic brothers? You do know that they were all into the occult? That's putting it politely but one doesn't 'accidentally' put Aleister Crowley on an album cover, and if you put him on, it's because you're making a point. I believe Lennon was very keen on him. There's a lot more information about all this available online.
They are our brothers in Baptism, a Sacrament by means of which they were received into the Catholic Church as babies. I am aware of the monstrosities they committed. Yes, Lennon was into Crowley's deplorable witchcraft. I know through a personal acquaintance that he repented of all his sins and asked for forgiveness. That confession occurred at his home in NYC a few months before his death. I do not know what God thought of or did with that repentance. My own mother lived a whole life of sin and debauchery. The poor thing came to Christ only days before her death. Her "record" makes Lennon's look like a bad day at kindergarten. Imagine! But she availed herself of the Sacrament of Confession. When compared with Jesus we are all so imperfect that the differences between us are nearly nothing. Lennon and his friends -willingly or not- steered my life to positive things, away from crime for instance. Please allow me to be grateful. I do not know what God will do with them. We just shared some music. I am not their judge nor anybody's judge. Vinctus sum. Deus judex meus est.
BTW I learned my first words of English from them and here we are dialoguing in English. May God have mercy on their souls, your soul and my soul since I am in most need of His mercy. Happy are those who don't need God's mercy for salvation. Honestly, I don't think any of us are in that category,
The ubiquitous surveillance is an horrendous insult to our human dignity.
If "we" hadn't taken that dignity to the pawnshop, we wouldn't be suffering the horrendous insult.
He said The Beatles were more popular than Jesus and he was not bragging. He was marveling at cultish adoration of the fans.
Many of those fans barely knew who Jesus was. I would not blame that ignorance on pop music. But some self righteous Bible thumper got hold of that phrase and the rest is history. Actually, Lennon was right in decrying the vulgar and decadent madness of those crowds and their ignorance. Anyone listening to the whole interview can see he was not at fault. He said his bit calmly but the vociferous crowds burning LPs in the public square did not look like a gathering of Christians to me. Watch the videos ...
Some of the other comments to yours show what passes for "charity" among trads.
All anyone has to do is listen to "Double Fantasy" to hear a human heart's song. No wonder they cannot fathom it.
“If we must remember offenses, let us remember only our own. And if we remember our own sins, we shall never store up the sins of others.”
—St. John Chrysostom
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." When mere men start behaving like prosecutors I for one know what is pushing them to act that way. We all feel secure when "the other" sits in the dock! (Safe for me!) I am not here to save or condemn Lennon. He behaved like a pig (regretfully I behaved like a pig many times) but I am asking the whole Church: when are we going to behave like people who's intention is to save as many souls as possible? Jesus did that. Read the Gospel. What would Jesus had done with Lennon (or me or you) when Lennon was bleeding on the sidewalk of the Dakota? I dare to say Jesus would have cured him and gained him for the Kingdom. Jesus would have looked into Lennon's eyes and told him "Sin no more." In the words of "Watching the Wheels" one can see his conversion and escape from Liberal thinking. His assassin said that was the reason he killed Lennon: "He betrayed us and abandon us" by turning into some kind of pro family Howdy Doody. Conversion cost Lennon everything he had. He was left alone in front of God... like starting over.
Hear, hear. It could be argued that record set in motion my own long con/reversion, as if reparations were being made.
Maturity is conversion, and that last record was the record of an idealistic young man who grew up and became a man: a husband, a father, an artist. Like the artist he was, he shared it with us.
What really pissed the crazies off was the infectious joy it brought him.
[RIP]
Amen!
I tend to think that, by the time he died, even John Lennon cringed when he heard it.
Yes. He recognized Christ and asked for forgiveness. There are witnesses. And at least one Catholic visionary in Austria said he was on his way to Heaven. 1 Corinthians 3:15
That story of Baldwin and his knights was proof that God does intervene when He wills it. Anyone with any knowledge of warfare knows it is normally impossible to defeat an enemy when they have such a tremendous numerical superiority. Add to that the fact that the knights had just made a strenuous journey through desert with inadequate supplies of water so they and their horses were exhausted before the battle even started. What chroniclers of that event wrote was that the horses seemed imbued with an extraordinary strength and spirit as they never slowed nor cowed at the enemy, but charged and kept charging until the enemy was routed. Numbers of dead are uncertain but estimates were that Baldwin's forces of ~1500 men killed over 20,000 of Saladin's forces, who were battle hardened veterans. There is no doubt in my mind it was a miracle from God.
Absolutely.
I think that Baldwin's patient acceptance of his terrible cross of leprosy was the spiritual foundation for God's favor in this battle.
Even though he was too weak to ride into battle with his men, he ordered that he be taken into the battle on his litter.
Increasingly, it seems Catholics don’t need the Vatican. Or Cardinals. Bureaucrats thrive on the budget. Americans should simply stop donating. At all. It won’t take long.
Imagine...if wallets slammed shut.
Imagine, if NO ONE attended the bogus ordo supper club meetings again. Ever.
I must have been missing something. I thought "Imagine" was an explicitly atheist dirge:
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
OK, so Bishop Antonio Staglianò says that John Lennon is right? I guess that His Grace is not 100% serious - he does not really want the Church wound up as a vacuous fraud and then spend the rest of his life stacking shelves at the local supermarket. I am sure that he and all his collegues from Leo down think that their incomes and nice Vatican apartments are guaranteed for life. If the suckers stop giving, there is plenty of real estate and investments.
Our ecumenical partners the Anglicans offer lots of reassuring examples. There was the Bishop of Woolwich, John Robinson. In 1963 one cruel reviewer of his "Honest to God" declared that Dr Robinson was plainly an atheist. Which did not end his career. And there was the riotously funny Bishop of Durham who did not believe in the Virgin Birth and declared that the Resurrection was not a conjuring trick with bones. Relax, the Church of England is also well endowed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/06/david-jenkins-bishop-durham-biblical-facts-fire-york-minster
Plainly Bishop Antonio Staglianò is a good son of Pope Francis who declared that God would gather all mankind into a giant tent to live with them there forever. Hell was abolished for all practical purposes. Why bother with missionary work or martyrdom or worship when everyone is going to be saved anyway, whether they believe or not?
https://onepeterfive.com/worlds-end-update-last-things-according-francis/
"Nothing to kill or die for.. " I don't know if Lennon had read any modern history. But the various atheist Communist regimes had already inflicted a mindbending amount of death and suffering on the innocent. Plenty of the perpetrators and victims were still around at the time of Lennon's death in 1980.
But then I recall that old atheist Bertrand Russell explaining why the Communists were so cruel. They were introducing a new religion.....
Only Communists could appreciate the lyrics of Imagine and only the tone deaf could appreciate the melody.
Vatican 2 Sect is just another protestant church, they can do whatever they want. I will not be surprised if Prevost allow women to be ordained as deacons or priest.
That "Bishop" needs to be laicized immediately. How soon before he praises LENIN??? Give it a few months or weeks. NOT sarcasm, Chris, I was having to explain to my cousins' children's friends the difference between Lennon and Lenin. And they live in Florida, for goodness sakes.
You can’t laicize a man who was never validly ordained or consecrated in the first place!
More like yesterday, but yes, definitely laicized... and locked up in a monastery to do hard penance.
On this particular point... is there really a difference between LENIN and LENNON? If Lenin had been alive at the time Lennon put out Imagine, I think Lenin would have declared Imagine to be the Communist anthem. Philosophically, I don't think they were all that different. In other ways, yes they were, but on this point, no.
Our Lady warned us so that we would be prepared to recognize this. Here it is. Our Lady of Fatima, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces, pray for us.
There is something I want to ask you for the first time in a long while... Why don't you criticize the misguided Zionists???? Do you believe that Israel respects the Catholic and Christian communities??? Let me make this clear!!! Misguided Zionists do not respect the Christian community. They oppress Christian communities not only in Israel but also in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Armenia... Are you completely unaware of the atrocities committed by the IDF in Lebanon recently??? Do you know that a French nun was assaulted in Jerusalem????? Why aren't you saying a single word about this?? If you are outraged by the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by heinous Islamic extremist groups, you should naturally be outraged by the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by the misguided Zionists as well. Isn't that common sense??? But why do you look at the behavior of the misguided Zionists as if it doesn't exist??? And it seems you consider Trump, J.D. Vance, and current Republicans to be the lesser of two evils or alternatives, but I will give you a precise rebuttal to that as well!!! Has Trump, J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, or any of the current Republicans ever said a single word of protest regarding the persecution and oppression of Christian communities by those misguided Zionists? If someone is outraged by the persecution and oppression of Christians by heinous Islamic extremists, they should be equally outraged by the exact same actions of fake Zionists. I feel deep disappointment when I see people who claim to be "traditional Catholics" criticizing only Islamic extremists!!!!
Israel is just as bad as the muslims.
I think the Israeli government hates Christianity and they manipulate christians as the muslims do to gain power. I agree with you Israel is an enemy ofChrist.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart... Ah, that is a touching comment... You are absolutely right!! Misguided Zionists do not respect the Christian community at all!!! The atrocities currently being committed by the IDF in Lebanon—destroying Christian villages and churches—as well as the oppression against the Palestinian Christian community and the Christian community within Israel, are at a considerably severe level!!! It is truly absurd that there are so many Christian fools who support these misguided Zionists despite this... As I mentioned in that comment, if one is outraged by the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by heinous Islamic extremist forces, one should naturally firmly oppose the persecution and oppression of the Christian community by misguided Zionists as well; however, it is pathetic that so many people treat the latter as if it does not even exist... Many need to know this truth... Thank you very much... I sincerely pray that the Lord's infinite blessings be with you, and that the prayers of the Sacred Heart of Mary, all the Angels, and the Saints are always with you....
Yes, in my prayers I pray for the conversion of those who persecute Christians, especially Catholics, which includes the communists, the Freemasons, the Muslims, and the Israelis among others. Also, the conversion of those within the Church that persecute the faithful.
Israel is a sovereign state - it's allowed to - and should - defend itself. I could say that I'm horrified when 'catholics' write reams of words against a secular country defending itself whilst never mentioning - or rarely - the horrors perpetrated on Israelis when 1200 were gruesomely tortured and massacred.
Why are you all obsessed with hating Israel? Why don't you talk about the Iranians massacred by their own government? Why don't you talk about the neighbouring Islamic states who support Israel because they know how evil and dangerous the Iranian regime is for both the region in general and the world at large and have been warning Europe and the US for years that they are sleepwalking into destruction?
I've no idea where you get your news from, but perhaps you aren't aware that Jews, Christians, Druze, Muslims and others all live together in Israel and serve together in the armed forces defending their country from those who would destroy it? You think they shouldn't be allowed to do that? Perhaps the U.S. shouldn't be allowed to defend itself either?
This anti-Israel, Zionist, false Zionist ranting (what the heck is a false Zionist anyway?) is fuelled by Satan, exactly like pro-Putin, pro-Russian propagandist hatred of Ukraine is.
They're fed islam hatred on line by u know who. They just don't see, and click thumbs up.
It is a great pity with all that could be said to exalt the Holy Name of Jesus, Bishop Antonio Staglianò deliberately chose to channel his inner John Lennon by preaching his take on the Synodal Gospel of Nihilism.
The Church is going through a passion. Read 1 Timothy 4:1. Jesus does not abandon us. We abandon Jesus.
Imagine there’s no isms, I’m not the only one, imagine if everyone could synodal alongside each other. Listening to everyone… imagine there’s no doctrine and we can all just sing along….All the people listening…listening I’m not the only one… listening for the whisper of tomorrow.. I’m not the only one….
As some in Church leadership positions seem to think that gathering and listening to “lived experiences“ is from “the spirit“ and that this is the way to form the new Church, I can tell you that my lived experience in my life included mortal sin, and that was not from the Holy Spirit either.
Well, sadly the Schism is here, it’s just a matter of time to make it official.
1. Frankly, with all the proSodomy-Marxist-proIslam bishops and clerics at the Vatican, I don’t think there’s an abundance of orthodox options among them for the position. However, the fact that Marxist Catholics are ecstatic with that woman, speaks volumes about her. EWTN showed and shows its true feathers when it comes to President Trump. Now I learned who’s behind the agenda.
2. The John Lennon’s Theology is beyond ridiculous. Is there a normal Italian bishop? The Italian conference is infested with Woke Sodomy friendly clerics like Paglia.
3. The Australian Catholic school, is not Catholic. It’s a Woke John Lennon’s Theology institution. Bad for parents paying high private tuitions. We should have a list of “None Catholic” Catholic schools and universities. Jesuits go first in such list.
"The Real Question Nobody Wants to Discuss".... why does anyone care about what non catholics in the vatican do? Prevost and his fellow communists and their false protestant religion have no effect on a faithful Catholic's salvation.
Find a real Catholic church and practice the faith.
I don’t follow anything a Masonic dissimulating apparatchik says or preaches- period.
What the author rightly criticizes is the modernist counterfeit church that is interwoven within the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, most within and nearly all without the Church can't recognize the distinction.
“Teaching heresy automatically incurs a latae sententiae excommunication in the Catholic Church, meaning the excommunication occurs at the moment the heretical act is committed without needing a formal declaration. This applies to anyone who obstinately denies a truth of the Catholic faith.”
-the moment of “excommunication” will be one of gross obstinacy….
what is being seen is a build to that event.
the Canon is being loaded, the trigger will be pulled.. and there will be a massive explosion..