The Crack and the Cracked Pots

In California we have a very long crack in the earth's surface known as the San Andreas Fault which geologists are watching carefully. It is predicted that this crack will widen some day and perhaps a great portion of the state will fall into the ocean.

From where I sit, stand or walk, it is very noticeable that not only a crack or a fissure, but a veritable "chasm" has formed and continues to widen between the Holy Roman Catholic Church of the time of St. Teresa of Avila and today's Conciliar Church in which are entrenched a group of "cracked pots" who say they are theologians. These cracked pots are leaking disinformation on ground contaminated already with local ersatz fertilizer, causing some very odd-looking plants to blossom which are alien to those chosen by the Holy Roman Catholic Church centuries ago and which have withstood the diverse climes throughout the world. These pots should have been taken out of circulation as soon as they were discovered to be cracked by the caretakers of the nursery. Even neophytes working in the greenhouses of the Lord sensed that these pots, if permitted to "hang in there" would make trouble. Their warnings which were sent to the head greenhouse were totally unheeded and now there are more of these cracked pots in circulation than ever before. It seems that the use of these cracked pots which many dioceses bring or invite into their nurseries are causing mutations that were never dreamed of in the time of St. Teresa and the great saints of former ages. When tapped, a cracked pot gives off with a far different sound than an uncracked pot and it is observed when local bishops and priests listen to this funny noise they start doing the craziest things. Just look around and see them moving altars, tearing out sanctuary railings, smashing stained glass windows, sending statues to the county dump, pushing the Good Lord out of sight, dowsing His light to make believe He is not there, putting a butcher table in the place of the altar and then sitting in front or behind it like waiting for the cook to bring in a roast or a meal of some kind. Some even call the Blessed Sacrament a meal now since they put in the table. Some of these cracked pots make a sound which the listener interprets as saying much of the Holy Bible is a myth and that there was not a virgin birth of the Lord nor was there a resurrection of His Body. Anything cracked will give off a funny sound, but to pay a pot like this to come in and give off with such sounds is a big waste of money and, in addition some of the cash customers can't stand these odd noises and will never come back. Think of the thousands of priests and nuns who have walked out and the millions of cash customers who say they will never return since the good money they doled out to create a beautiful house for their Lord has been wasted. Unlike California where a great chunk of land may fall into a "cool" ocean, these confusers, if they do not change their ways, may fall into chasms where neither cool waters nor cool breezes were ever considered in the installation of the heating equipment.

Signs in front of our churches formerly told passersby that such a building was a Roman Catholic Church or at least Saint . . . Catholic Church. The word "Catholic" seldom is seen on such signs today or on the church stationery and that is why I usually use the word "Conciliar" instead of Catholic. These modern churches do not carry the marks, either inside or outside, of the Catholic churches of my boyhood. I would not consider losing identity as a mark of progress.

Perhaps you have noticed the results of polls taken in so-called Catholic institutions of higher (?) learning where most of the students let it be known that they no longer believe in a heaven or hell; that only a minority go to Mass. They do not believe it sinful to have pre-marital sex and endorse abortion if they are unlucky enough to become pregnant. Are such attitudes Catholic or should we call them Conciliar? I never heard such opinions being expressed before the Council. But now they are expressed boldly and unashamedly.

You may have heard about the professor in one of our prominent Catholic colleges who seemed to enjoy talking about sex and whose study assignments included patronizing the most immoral shows in the city, after which the students were requested to tell in class what they experienced in the way of sexual arousal when they attended such performances. The professor's assistant, a woman, protested such assignments and was fired because of being too Catholic. The priest who headed the college supported the professor. Undoubtedly the priest did not consider it a sin to attend an immoral show if the teacher requested it. This reminds me of the day I saw a friend of mine crying outside her church and asked her what was wrong. She said she had just been to confession and the priest told her that none of the items she confessed to were sins anymore. It seems that Vatican II had wiped out most sins and even some priests were now stating that it is practically impossible to commit sin. It would seem that this is why so few people go to confession any more but will receive Holy Communion every Sunday. On another occasion a young man told me that he had some moments to spare while in a large city and since he was close to a Catholic church went in to visit with the Lord. Near the confessional was a sign which indicated one could go to confession by ringing the bell and a priest would accommodate them. After hearing his confession, the priest was irate and told him that he was never to ring that bell again if what he had to tell was not gravely sinful. What the priest would consider gravely sinful remains in doubt. In a diocesan directory I have, some churches request that you phone for an appointment if you wish to go to confession.

In reading the lives of some saints who have been shown what a soul suffers in hell and in purgatory for certain sins which today would be considered so minor as to merit a bawling out by priests for even mentioning them, one must question if he or she belongs to the same Church as did the saints. This attitude of confessors today was never evident to me before the Council. I am wondering what the new catechism will say about sin when it is released. I am sure that in the past many of the cracked pots swarming the world today would have been excommunicated pronto for disseminating the kind of information they feel free to dispense since Vatican II. What side of the "crack" will such clergy find themselves on when they discover that our God today is the same God who made Himself known personally to the saints in their day. Did He not show them the result of unrepentant sin for the benefit of souls in their day as well as for the souls of our day? Has He changed His mind since Vatican II? No! God is unchangeable but man is fickle and will make an asbestos suit for himself and recommend the same for those who want to hear that the heat of God's anger will not penetrate to their sensitive skins since Vatican II the way it did in days gone by. It would seem that most shepherds today are far more concerned with stomachs which live for but a day compared to souls which never die and will ultimately take up residence in heaven or hell.