Jesus said to her,
‘Give me to drink’ (Jn 4:7).
Are we also ready to
respond as the sons of Zebedee responded when Jesus asked them: “Are
you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” (Mt 20:22)?
We have been duped,
manipulated and brainwashed with the greatest sophistication of
mental manipulation in the history of the world. Thus many are
ignorant and innocent of what they have been led into. But when they
are confronted with at least one person who succeeded in pulling
himself/herself out of the very strong current, a person who left the
stampeding herd, toward the cult of man instead of the cult of God,
toward the beautiful but empty lies of “the father of lies” (Jn
8:44), instead of going toward “the way, and the truth, and the
life” (Jn 14:6), they are then before a fundamental choice, to
seek the Truth outside of their own heads, or to take the much easier
way of continuing what they have slid into which is what just about
everyone around them is doing, to be “politically correct”, which
does not lead to the absolute and saving Truth Who is Jesus Christ.
Many also have let their hearts become attached to certain things not
of God, including glory before men especially in the Church, and have
push aside the inspirations and graces of God with many small
compromises which are always accompanied by more and more blindness
to the real situation from God’s perfect point of view.
It is interesting that
years ago there was a psychological study done in which a high school
teacher told everyone to raise their right hand, but in the classroom
of 30 students there were 29 who were told beforehand to raise their
left hand. The one who did not know about this began to raise his
right hand but when they saw the 29 who raised their left hand,
decided to raise his left hand. Then one of the 29 put his hand down
and raised his right hand. When the one alone saw this, he decided to
raise his right hand also. After many similar tests, the results were
very conclusive that when just one person has the courage to follow
what is right, it gives great courage for others who have been
intimidated by the mass mob stampeding away from the uncomfortable,
but saving Truth which is accompanied by the cross of Christ.
Somehow I believe that
God has given me the grace during my life to seek the inconvenient
Truth outside of my head and to be willing to take the risk to stand
up even when I was very often totally alone in what I had discovered
and what I had to do. I received a lot of this part of my character
from my Dad, but when I realized that my Dad had slid down the wrong
direction, God gave me the grace to follow the Truth even though I
suffered greatly by being rejected by my parents. Visit:
http://necedah-cult.blogspot.com;
http://spir-food.blogspot.it/2012/12/the-death-of-my-brother.html.
I have been in the
Church all my life and thus needless to say I have suffered the most
from my spouse, the Church. I have been betrayed and abandoned by
priests, loosing my community or parish or friends; twice I suffered
a difficult depression after such experiences. These experiences
offered me many opportunities to struggle for the Truth which gives
true freedom. Visit: “The Great
Responsibility Of Religious Leaders”
(http://josephdwight.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/great-responsibility/).
Each time
we suffer in these difficult situations, and we persevere in praying
and not abandoning God after His pruning (Jn 15:2; Prov 3:12; Heb
12:5-6), our hearts are enlarged and we are more and more free of
ourselves and of our hidden egoisms so as to have more room in our
hearts for God and His graces. This is the experience of all of the
saints.
Very
recently (a few days ago) I realized that God was asking me to make
another painful cut in my life. This is also the reason why this
edition of my “Spiritual Food” is a little late this month. To
describe this well for you, I will now offer you the email that I
sent, only a few days ago, to over 100 members of the Neocatecumenal
Way here in Italy.
- - -
The
following is the email I sent to over 100 members of the
Neocatecumenal Way here in Italy on January 19, 2015:
Dear
brothers and sisters of the Neocatecumenal communities,
I
have been helping out with the Holy Masses and the Penitential
celebrations with you for almost 10 years. I had mentioned to you a
few times that I knew that your statutes had been approved a few
years ago, but the way in which you celebrated the Holy Mass was not
yet approved and that Pope Benedict had formed a commission to
examine the Holy Mass celebrated in the small groups Saturday evening
among the members of the Neocatecumenal Way. I
believed up to only a few days ago that this commission had not
finished their work before Pope
Benedict had left the papacy. A few days ago I discovered that
instead the commission had finished their work and the three founders
of the Neocatecumenal Way - Kiko Argüello, Carmen Hernandez
and Father Mario Pezzi – had received a letter on December 1, 2005
written by Cardinal Arinze, the prefect of the Vatican Congregation
for the Liturgy with a list of “decisions of the Holy Father” to
which they were to obey.
I discovered that Kiko
Argüello, Carmen Hernandez e Father Mario Pezzi did not obey the
letter sent by Cardinal Francis Arinze. I was about to offer
my decision that I must obey the “decisions of the Holy Father”
Saturday evening at the Masses I celebrated for two groups, January
17, 2015, when a catechist, for more than 20 years, told me that
after the letter of Arinze, the Neocatecumenal Mass was approved by
Pope Benedict. And so I did not offer my decision in my printed
letter Saturday evening (attached).
When I tried to find
this approbation of the Holy Father on the Internet, I discovered
that what had happened was that the pontifical council for the laity
headed by Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko had prepared the text for a degree
of blanket approval of all the liturgical and extra-liturgical
celebrations of the Neocatechumenal Way, to be made public January
20, 2012 on the occasion of a meeting scheduled between the Pope and
the Way. The decree was redacted according to the guidelines of the
congregation for divine worship, headed by Cardinal Antonio Cañizares
Llovera. The founders and leaders of the Way, Francisco "Kiko"
Argüello and Carmen Hernández, were told about it and joyfully told
their followers about the imminent approval. All unbeknownst to
the Pope.
Benedict XVI found out
about the text of the decree a few days before the meeting on January
20. He found it illogical and mistaken. He ordered that it be
scrapped and rewritten according to his guidelines.
In the “Address of
His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Community of the Neocatechumenal
Way”, January 20, 2012, Pope Benedict gave a genuine lecture –
almost an ultimatum – that the celebrations in the small
communities must be “regulated by the liturgical books that must
be faithfully followed”, as he had ordered already in the
letter of Cardinal Arinze more than 6 years earlier.
Thus, I ask you to read
my decision in my letter (attached) which I had intended to give last
Saturday, January 17, 2015, but instead I offer now after having
discovered that the neocatecumenal Mass had not been approved. Toward
the end of this letter I offered “a proposal,
my idea”.
Dear
brothers and sisters, “The Truth will
make you free!” (Jn 8:32), non only
in this short life, but for all eternity!
Father Joseph Dwight
- - -
The
following is the printed letter that I had planned to give out
Saturday evening at two neocatecumenal Masses, January 17,
2015:
January
17, 2015
Dear
brothers and sisters of the Neocatecumenal communities,
I have
been helping out with the Holy Masses and the Penitential
celebrations with you for almost 10 years. I see a lot of good will
and good fruits. Precisely for this reason I offered myself even to
the point of offering two Holy Masses every Saturday evening with
you, and the Penitential celebrations whenever you called me.
I
had mentioned to you a few times that I knew that your statutes had
been approved a few years ago, but the way in which you celebrated
the Holy Mass was not yet approved and that Pope Benedict had formed
a commission to examine the Holy Mass celebrated in the small groups
Saturday evening among the members of the Neocatecumenal Way. I
believed up to only a few days ago that this commission had not yet
finished their work before Pope
Benedict had left the papacy. A few days ago I discovered that
instead the commission had finished their work and the three founders
of the Neocatecumenal Way - Kiko Argüello, Carmen Hernandez
and Father Mario Pezzi – had received a letter on December 1, 2005
written by Cardinal Arinze, the prefect of the Vatican Congregation
for the liturgy with a list of “decisions of the Holy Father” to
which they were to obey.
“Of the six points
detailing the pope’s directives, only one permits the
Neocatechumenals to continue what they are doing. This regards
placing the exchange of peace before the offertory, a traditional
practice in the Christian liturgy which is still in use today, for
example, in the Ambrosian Rite celebrated in the archdiocese of
Milan. All the other points require the Neocatechumenal Way to
eliminate a large portion of its liturgical innovations.”
Our
Holy Mother Church seeks to help and protect the ecclesial movements
in order not to loose the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to
each movement. Being part of the Focolare Movement since 1986, many
times I heard from the mouth of Chiara Lubich that she followed
immediately and totally every small indication from Pope John Paul
II, even if she had to change her important programs. Like the saints
and good religious, Chiara Lubich trusted totally in God, not in
herself, and thus she believed that if she obeyed the Pope, her
superior, after she expressed well her thoughts, even if she was not
in agreement with the decision of the Pope, she did the holy will of
God. If the Pope truly made a mistake, according to God, the Pope
will most likely change his idea, precisely because Chiara Lubich
obeyed. Humility and obedience cause the graces of God to gush forth!
If what Chiara Lubich believed was right was truly right according to
God, God will take care of the problem, and to change the idea of her
superior, in God’s own time. The first criteria of discernment
regarding private revelations is precisely humility and obedience
(Visit: “The Catholic Church and Private Revelation”;
http://priv-rev.blogspot.com).
Certainly, the responsibility of superiors is great! Visit: “The
Great Responsibility of Religious Leaders”
(http://josephdwight.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/great-responsibility/).
At the beginning of
a movement the Church offers a period of observation as well as
certain verbal authorizations, as Pope John Paul did with the leaders
of the Neocatechumenal Way. Then afterwards Mother Church guides us
for our true good and for the true good of the ecclesial movement. It
is similar to Jesus Who received all, did many miracles and healings,
but slowly led all those, who were willing, with Him toward
Jerusalem, toward Calvary, and finally to the crucifixion where there
was only the Mother of Jesus, Saint John the apostle and some women.
Jesus leads all those of good will toward Calvary with the cross,
toward trust in God not in themselves, which is the only way to
overcome our egoisms in order to love God and neighbor in an
authentic way. “The Truth will make you free!” (Jn 8:32).
The recall of Benedict
XVI regards the ways in which the neocatecumenal groups celebrate the
Mass. The Pope wants them to conform to what is prescribed in the
liturgical norms valid for the whole Church.
I was surprised when
I discovered that Kiko Argüello, Carmen Hernandez e Father
Mario Pezzi did not obey the letter in which were
articulated the directives of the Pope. Their act of partial
obedience is in a letter which they wrote to the Pope on January 17,
2006. They limit themselves in fact to thank the Pope for having
conceded to them another two years of time. And they return to defend
their way of doing the communion. They underline that to do the
communion “in this way” is an essential instrument to convert the
ones further away from the faith: to abandon this would compromise
their mission. On this crucial point of the communion they indicated
that they want to follow their way. It is in fact the diffuse opinion
among the neocatecumenals that the letter of Arinze was something
provisionary, modifiable, a simple “instrumentum laboris”, and
that in the end their practice will be substantially approved. This
opinion persists even after the recall of Benedict XVI regarding the
rite of the Mass, in his talk given to the neocatecumenals on January
12 2006.
In any case, this is
not the thought neither of Arinze nor of the Pope. In an interview
on February 15, 2006, on Vatican Radio, the cardinal prefect for
the congregation for the liturgy reasserted that the letter is “the
conclusion to everything”. In this way he explained the process
from which the letter originated:
“The letter flowed
out of what emerged from the examination of this congregation of how
the Neocatecumenal Way celebrates the Holy Mass for many years. …
To exam this we had a mixed commission among people nominated from
the Neocatecumenal Way and people nominated by our congregation. In
the discussions emerged many practices which they do during the Mass,
… and many emerged which were not according to the approved books.
This is the background. Everything was examined in many sessions by
the mixed commission during a period of two years or more. And there
was also a discussion among seven cardinals of the Roman curia,
desired by the Holy Father, who examined everything. Thus, this
letter is the conclusion to everything”.
BEHOLD THE LETTER
WRITTEN BY CARDINAL ARINZA:
"I am to inform
you of the Holy Father’s decisions..."
Congregatio
de Cultu Divino et Disciplina Sacramentorum
Prot. 2520/03/L
From Vatican City,
December 1, 2005
To the esteemed Mr.
Kiko Argüello, Ms. Carmen Hernandez, and Rev. Father Mario Pezzi,
Following the
conversations with this Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments on the celebration of the Most Holy
Eucharist in the communities of the Neocatechumenal Way, in keeping
with the guidelines issued in the meeting with you on November 11 of
this year, I am to inform you of the Holy Father’s decisions.
In the celebration of
the Holy Mass, the Neocatechumenal Way shall accept and follow the
liturgical books approved by the Church, without omitting or adding
anything. Furthermore, in regard to some elements the guidelines and
clarifications are emphasized as follows:
1. Sunday is the “Dies
Domini” as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wished to
illustrate in the Apostolic Letter on the Lord’s Day. Therefore the
Neocatechumenal Way must enter into dialogue with the diocesan bishop
in order to make it clear that the community of the Neocatechumenal
Way is incorporated into the parish even in the context of the
liturgical celebrations. At least one Sunday per month, the
communities of the Neocatechumenal Way must participate in the Holy
Mass of the parish community.
2. As for any
admonitions issued before the readings, these must be brief.
Adherence must also be shown to what is set out in the “Institutio
Generalis Missalis Romani” (nn. 105 and 128) and to the Praenotanda
of the “Ordo Lectionum Missae” (nn. 15, 19, 38, 42).
3. The homily, because
of its nature and importance, is reserved to the priest or deacon
(cf. Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 767 § 1). As for the occasional
contribution of testimonies on the part of the lay faithful, the
proper places and methods for these are indicated in the
Interdicasterial Instruction “Ecclesiae de Mysterio,” which was
approved “in specific form” by Pope John Paul II and published on
August 15, 1997. In this document, sections 2 and 3 of article 3 read
as follows:
§2 - “It is
permitted to have a brief instruction that helps explain better the
liturgy that is being celebrated, and even, in exceptional
circumstances, a few testimonies, as long as these conform to the
liturgical norms, are offered on the occasion of Eucharistic
liturgies celebrated on particular days (for seminarians, the sick,
etc.), and are thought truly helpful as an illustration of the
regular homily delivered by the celebrating priest. These
instructions and testimonies must not assume characteristics that
might cause them to be confused with the homily.”
§3 - “The
possibility of ‘dialogue’ during the homily (cf. Directorium de
Missis cum Pueris, no. 48) can be used occasionally and with prudence
by the celebrating minister as a means of exposition, which does not
transfer to others the duty of preaching.”
Careful attention must
also be paid to the Instruction “Redemptionis Sacramentum,” no.
74.
4. On the exchange of
peace, permission is granted to the Neocatechumenal Way to continue
using the indult already granted, pending further instructions.
5. On the manner of
receiving Holy Communion, a period of transition (not exceeding two
years) is granted to the Neocatechumenal Way to pass from the
widespread manner of receiving Holy Communion in its communities
(seated, with a cloth-covered table placed at the center of the
church instead of the dedicated altar in the sanctuary) to the normal
way in which the entire Church receives Holy Communion. This means
that the Neocatechumenal Way must begin to adopt the manner of
distributing the Body and Blood of Christ that is provided in the
liturgical books.
6. The Neocatechumenal
Way must also make use of the other Eucharistic Prayers contained in
the missal, and not only Eucharistic Prayer II.
In short, the
Neocatechumenal Way, in its celebration of the Holy Mass, should
follow the approved liturgical books, keeping in mind what is laid
out above under the numbers 1,2,3,4,5, and 6.
Acknowledging the
favors that the Lord has bestowed upon the Church through the many
activities of the Neocatechumenal Way, I take this occasion to extend
to you my best regards.
+ Francis Card. Arinze
Prefect
----------
Esteemed
Mr. ARGÜELLO Kiko, Ms.
HERNANDEZ Carmen, Rev. Fr. PEZZI Mario
Via dei
Gonzaga, 205
ROMA
__________
Dear
brothers and sisters of the Neocatecumenal communities,
IN
CONSCIENCE, BEFORE GOD, I CAN NO LONGER CELEBRATE A MASS NOT APPROVED
BY THE CHURCH. In these last several
years I have begun to understand more and more, in my meditations
each day and before our Eucharistic Lord one hour everyday for the
last 14 years, the greatness of the Eucharist, the substantial
presence of Jesus, the Son of God, in Person, in every smallest
particle of bread. I also began to discover and to understand how
much the devil has worked, with great astuteness and subtleness, in
the Catholic Church, to cause to diminish the faith, love and
reverential humility before the infinite God in the Eucharist, “the
source and summit of the Christian life”.” (Vat. II: LG
11; CCC 1324). A year ago I had written an article
(in Italian): “Il Dio Infinito Fra Noi”
(http://cibo-spir.blogspot.it/2014/01/il-dio-infinito-fra-noi.html).
I am
always willing to help out with the penitential celebrations.
I
would like to offer a proposal, my idea.
Even though I am totally convinced that it is very important to obey
this letter from Cardinal Arinze, in the letter of Kiko, Carmen and
Father Mario, which they wrote to the Pope on January 17, 2006, they
underlined that to do the communion “in this way” is an
essential instrument to convert the ones further away from the faith:
to abandon this would compromise their mission. The communities which
are already on the way for more than 5 or 10 years, it seems to me
that they are no longer “the ones further away from the faith”.
And thus if a few of the communities are willing to obey the letter
of Cardinal Arinze, in agreement with their Pastor (where they are
accommodated) and with their catechists, I am very willing to
celebrate the Holy Mass in the way approved by Holy Mother Church
with you.
In the Beginning of the
Year Convivience 2013-2014, Kiko said at the end of the ecclesial
catechesis: “It is a very important the point of the catechism on
politics, it is a very important point. There are those who think
that history is immanent, that we are going toward a better world,
with more democracy, more progress, and we can say that this is
false! We are going toward the apostasy, toward the antichrist,
as the Book of Revelation and the Catechism say.”
I believe in this very
difficult period, with less prayer than ever and more sin and more
indifference than ever, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of
light” (2Cor 11:14) better than ever. And thus, it is
very important to remain faithful to the Magisterium of the Church.
The Church is the handmaid of the Truth, not the Author of the
Truth! “Who Decides The Truth?”
(http://spir-food.blogspot.it/2014/06/who-decides-truth.html).
“The work of the devil will infiltrate even the
Church in such a way that one will see CARDINALS
OPPOSING CARDINALS, bishops against
other bishops. … the Church will be
full of those who accept compromise …”
(Our Lady of Akita, Japan; October 13, 1973, the anniversary of the
great miracle of the sun at Fatima, October 13, 1917)!
In
the “Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary” for the
associated priests of the Marian Movement for Priests, one reads:
“Above all, we wish to be united with the Holy Father and the
hierarchy, firmly adhering to all their directives, so
as thus to set up a barrier to the growing confrontation directed
against the Magisterium, that threatens
the very foundation of the Church.”
Dear
brothers and sisters, let us help each other (Heb 3:13) to not
gently slide (“full of joy”, Diary
of St. Faustina, no. 153) into apostasy,
with compromises, before “the man of lawlessness is revealed, the
son of perdition” (2Thess 2:3-4)!
Father Joseph Dwight
An Experience of Life:
It was night.
Suddenly someone opened the door forcefully: "Everybody on the
floor", they shouted. They were bandits. They grabbed
Marie-Francis, my little sister, they forced her into the closet.
They searched all over, they took jackets, the radio, dad’s
backpack... They did not find money because we were poor. Then they
pulled out of the closet Marie-Francis and one of them with a large
knife in his hand, threatened: "Either you give us the money, or
...". I got up. Jesus gave me courage. Precisely that very day
we set out to see Jesus and love Him in everyone. I looked at the man
straight in the eye and said, "You cannot do this! I know it, in
you there is Jesus. I see Jesus in you." The gunman looked at me
with his mouth open, then he put down my little sister. He nodded to
his partner and they left without taking anything away. They even
left the little cash they had taken from the purse of the mother.
John,
Camerun
- - - - -
- -
Father Joseph Dwight
