In Gaudete et Exsultate, Francis—who has abetted anti-life, sacked loyal priests, empowered homosexuals, rewarded abortionists, blessed adultery, and denied dogma—has set out to correct our faults and teach us the way of "holiness."
Apostolic Exhortation or Aggravation?
In an apparent move to rebut conservative allegations that the pope has been denying tenets of the Faith--a crisis that culminated during Holy Week with the pope's alleged denial of hell and the immortality of the soul--Pope Francis on April 8 issued his newest Apostolic Exhortation "Gaudete et Exsultate" (Rejoice and Be Glad), in which he bewails the "defamation and slander" being spread online by traditional Roman Catholic journalists and bloggers.
In this newest document, the pope repeatedly mentions Satan, but with the implication that tradition-minded journalists and clergy who challenge his ideas are guided by the devil. He speaks of the "wiles of the devil", "the spirit of the devil", "keeping the devil at bay", how to "banish the devil", and "snares and temptations of the devil," in apparent reference to "defamation and slander" that have "become commonplace" on the Catholic blogosphere.
He warns readers to "not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea," but to be on guard against 'media devils' who are spreading resistance to his efforts to lead the Church in a new direction. "The devil" is only used derogatorily to reference what he thinks is evil, not to profess belief in hell.
We saw this with the Pharisees who used the name of Beelzebub to reference Jesus' miracles and doctrine. (Mt. 12:24) Similarly, we see Francis lashing out against the innocent. According to the pope, prelates like Cardinal Burke who publicly lament his pontificate and who recently said that Francis is "increasing the confusion" in the Church are guilty of "bearing false witness or lying, and ruthlessly vilifying others." (Paragraph 115)
Praised by Radicals
It's no wonder that the fake-news along with sex-offenders like the notorious Fr. James Martin--known the world over for the scandal he has caused by his disgraceful # aspirations--are doing somersaults over Gaudete et Exsultate. "By their
fruits you shall know them." (Mt. 7:20)
https://youtu.be/JRweQno8PJA
It is enough to say that Gaudete et Exsultate is an insidious piece of anti-pontifical deception aimed at dismissing doctrinal and moral absolutes. And whereas it is replete with quotations from the saints and Holy Scripture, this is only done for cosmetic reasons to turn the faithful against tradition so that they'll more easily succumb to the temptation of change.
According to Francis, those who resist this change are led by evil. "This is all the more important when some
novelty presents itself in our lives. Then we have to decide whether it is new wine brought by God or an illusion created by the spirit of this world or the spirit of the devil. At other times, the opposite can happen, when the forces of evil induce us not to change
, to leave things as they are, to opt for a rigid resistance to change.
"Any Interpretation Goes
Against the exhortations of past popes, Francis advocates a diversity of interpretations of doctrine. "Here I would note that in the Church there legitimately coexist different ways of interpreting many aspects of doctrine and Christian life; in their variety, they 'help to express more clearly the immense riches of God's word.'"
Clearly, the document does not think with God but with the world. Under the guise of advancing holiness, it discounts the fear of God and the keeping of his laws while advocating a passive flow with the so-called renewal in the Church. The problem with this is that today's renewal is not from God but from the devil who "entered the temple of God." (Pope Paul VI, June 29, 1972)
Hypocrisy
The exhortation is loaded with hypocrisy. For instance, it feigns lamentation of persecution while persecuting the humble. It feigns love of holiness while teaching it is impossible for "the weak" to keep the moral law given their "concrete" limits (being hardened in sin), and thus legitimizes the breaking of the commandments as also taught in Amoris Laetitia 303. The new document says we should rejoice in Christ's teaching and then turns around and says that attachment to Christ's doctrine reflects a rejection of "the Spirit."
According to the document, the Church does not have all the answers and shouldn't tell people how to live. "When somebody has an answer for every question, it is a sign that they are not on the right road. They may well be false prophets, who use religion...to exercise a strict supervision over others' lives." According to Francis, any religion will do, evidenced by his constant dictating that we should never try to convert Jews and outsiders to the Catholic Faith.
Luther's Idea
In the spirit of Luther, Gaudete et Exsultate also teaches that Heaven is not gained by merit. In Protestant fashion, it preaches that man is not justified by works (52-57), even calling "Pelagians" those who obediently exert their free will to please God. "Still, some Christians insist on taking another path, that of justification by their own efforts, the worship of the human will and their own abilities... an obsession with the law."
Naturally, it is Christ Himself who justifies and saves, but he doesn't save anyone unless they obey his laws and commandments to the letter. "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." (Romans 2:13) The Savior reminds us that "he will render to every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)
As seen many times, we again see Francis holding the keepers of the law as hypocrites who separate their obedience from a true desire to abide with Christ. "I regret that ideologies lead us at times to two harmful errors. On the one hand, there is the error of those Christians who separate these Gospel demands from their personal relationship with the Lord, from their interior union with him, from openness to his grace." (100)
What this does is to turn people against the law and do things their own personal or "Pelagian" way. If Catholics obey the Gospel demands, it is precisely to preserve "their personal relationship with the Lord" and "their interior union with him," so we should never assume that they do this hypocritically (1 Cor. 13:5) and should understand too that "their personal relationship with the Lord" is contingent on their obeying the Gospel, without which they remain outside of grace.
Francis continues, "The other harmful ideological error is found in those who find suspect the social engagement of others, seeing it as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist. Or they relativize it, as if there are other more important matters." (101)
So in other words, being worldly, secular, materialistic, and communist are now just as important as being Catholic and fighting abortion. Did Francis not consider that it is Christ himself who looks upon these "social engagements" as empty and superficial, and that it is he who calls us to leave our worldly socializing and live only for the Faith?
Hindering Immigration No Less Sinful than Abortion
But this pope is political. In the document, he abets the global cause of a borderless one-world government and goes so far as to say that the political issue of migration shouldn't be seen as "secondary" or "lesser" to "'grave' bioethical questions" (abortion) and that helping "victims" of "every form of rejection" (homosexuals, Jihad migrants) is just as important as defending the unborn. (102)
So according to Francis, hindering migrant insurgents from trespassing our borders is just as serious as murdering a baby! Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony (SBA) speaks the mind of the Church in saying that it is "impossible" to give any other social justice issue the same moral weight as abortion, but according to Francis she's a stiff-neck Pelagian imposing her own brand of religion in defiance of "the spirit."
Doctrine Can Be Questioned
Needless to say, Gaudete et Exsultate is not about holiness, but about advancing a fake mysticism aimed at belittling doctrine and befogging the faithful about their duties in life. Therein, the pope shows contempt for doctrinal absolutes and even dubs "Gnostics" those who earnestly seek to know and follow the absolute truth of God. (36-42) According to Francis, doctrine can be questioned.
"Someone who wants everything to be clear and sure presumes to control God's transcendence." (41) Francis says, "In effect, doctrine, or better, our understanding and expression of it, is not a closed system, devoid of the dynamic capacity to pose questions, doubts." (44)
In other words, the good dubia cardinals arrogantly "presume to control God's transcendence" because they humbly request clarification on Francis' often ambiguous statements about Christ's doctrine--a doctrine which they rightfully understand is a closed system of absolute truths which one may never question or doubt.
What is odd is that nowhere in this 98-page exhortation on "holiness" does the pope prescribe the true path to holiness, which is a childlike submission to doctrine and tradition. The document is rather loaded with little digs and resentments against those who humbly stand apart from the world and live only for God.
For example, Francis appears to take an indirect crack at Cardinal Sarah, known for his love of prayerful solitude and his criticism of the busy-body religion advocated by Francis. "It is not healthy to love silence while fleeing interaction with others, to want peace and quiet while avoiding activity, to seek prayer while disdaining service. Everything can be accepted and integrated into our life in this world." (26)
This radically dissents from the teaching of Christ, who requires that the elements of this world--especially the forbidden elements of fornication, gay orientation, and heresy--first be purged from the soul before one can enter Heaven. Worldly chatter and noise should never be "integrated into our life," since "the friendship of this world is the enemy of God" and "whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God." (James 4:4)
What is entirely strange about Francis is that he, representing the
Teacher of all Mankind, will often kneel as it were before other religions and ask their blessing and correction--suggesting that Christ and His Church need correction--and to substantiate this fake humility, he quotes St. John of the Cross out of context, saying,
"Always prefer to be taught by all, rather than to desire teaching even the least of all" (GE 117), but when the true teachers of humility try to gently correct him, his love of being taught suddenly turns to rage as he starts blowing fuses and making insinuations that he is a martyr who is persecuted by the proud.
Unfortunately, Francis' teachers are the elite masters of the U.N. global synagogue who murder the unborn and who seek to enslave humanity under a borderless one-world government. In
Laudato Si, he even says,
"There is urgent need of a true world political authority."
In Gaudete et Exsultate, Francis--who has abetted anti-life, betrayed the underground Church in China, sacked loyal priests, empowered homosexuals, rewarded abortionists, praised heretics, blessed adultery, profaned the Eucharist, and denied dogma--has set out to correct our faults and teach us the way of "holiness." To him the Lord says,"And why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye?" (Matthew 7:3)
Our prayer is that Francis will first remove the beam of pride from his own eye so that he will better be able to remove the spec from the eyes of others. And if he can bring himself so far, let him make the teacher of the saints and popes his teacher, and let him flow with the same spirit that guided all the saints, popes, martyrs, and holy hermits for 2000-years without change. When this is done, then he can truly
Gaudete et Exsultate!
Gaudete et exsultate: Apostolic Exhortation on the call to holiness in today's world (19 March 2018) | Francis
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David Martin is the former moderator for St. Michaels Radio which is the one radio program of our time specializing in Catholic prophecy. He has also authored numerous articles on the Church and the Papacy which have appeared on various blogs and websites.
David presently resides in Los Angeles, California where for thirty years he has coordinated a Catholic ministry. He is a daily communicant in his parish church and strongly supports Benedict XVI’s aspiration to see the Traditional Latin Mass returned to every Catholic parish of the world.
