Not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law..

What a day. I just couldn't get away from the "Pope Francis effect"!

It started at 6am when I opened up my Magnificant Lenten Companion and read today's reflection.

I used to love Magnificat but stopped subscribing when they began to add Heather King et al, to the line up of solid reflections from Fr. Rutler, Anthony Easolen, Fr. Romanus Cessario and the Doctors of the Church. I picked up the Lenten edition to see if it cleaned up the drivel. Suffice it to say I won't be subscribing any time soon. Too bad, because I really love 80% of it, but I just don't have the bandwidth to subject myself to another thing being infiltrated with pablum and theology that is a bit off of the rails.

Anyhow, today's reflection was from a priest who explains that he had an epiphany about today's Gospel. "when the Lord tells us that not even the smallest letter will pass from the law, he is not telling us to be legalists. Rather, he asks us to understand the fullness of the law, moving beyond its restricted meaning to its fuller meaning in the context of divine revelation. And this broader context is found in the encounter with Jesus'.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

There isn't any complicated message that tries to convince Christ's people that if you encounter Jesus, there is laxity in following His Laws and Commandments.

You can take His Words at face value: Don't stray a millimeter from the law and don't teach other's to stray a millimeter from the law or you are going down.

Obedience to God, even when people say they will kill us if we teach it, preach it and practice it, is THE moral of Christ's story.

I read an excellent, succinct description of Pope Francis written by a priest to the Remnant.

Boy, did it ever hit me between the eyes:

I’m reassured to read your articles taking Pope Francis to task for his many attacks on faithful Catholics, while at the same time endorsing the immoral behavior of others.

Whoah, that's what happening, isn't it.

I mean...there it is in all it's simplicity: The Pope is attacking faithful Catholics and endorsing immoral conduct.

Who does that?

And the fruit of this tree seems like it has erased 2000 years of Saints and Doctors of the Church.

The locusts who have been fed from the breast of this beast of an agenda are swarming all over us.

The Pope has empowered every heretic from here to kingdom come and they are destroying everything.

Have you read this story from Katrina telling the story of Fr. Kevin O'Brien who denied her Communion on the tongue at her Grandmother's funeral?

This guy chooses grieving relatives to impose his disgust upon those of us who have too much respect for the Eucharist to lose a crumb of It to the bottom of our shoes.

A word to the wise: If a priest denies your dying relatives Viacitum, the likelihood he is going to validly substantiate the Eucharist is pretty low. Find another priest and another parish. Unless you like to be ministered to by the devil.

This was in vogue in Boston 10-15 years ago. You couldn't get a priest to give Viaticum. I think it's a little better but you have to be persistent and know that the shepherd is a believer. Otherwise, they will just get a 'blessing'. They'll be 'blessed' out of the opportunity to die in a state of Grace.

Here's the kicker with Reverend Obrien: When you go to the parish website, there's a big advertisement with a picture of St. Therese of Lisieux and the message that the parish is 'celebrating 60 years of doing small things with love'.

At the bottom of the website, in large letters, is this message:

As followers of Jesus,
nourished by the Word, the Eucharist,
and one another,
we are called to joyfully spread the Good News
by praising God, serving the poor,
comforting the sick and welcoming all.

Give us a break.

Drop him an email and respectfully let him know his pants are on fire in Catholic blogosphere.

KOBrien@StThereseChesVA.org

I wrote him and told him if I were his bishop, he'd be without faculties and a job tomorrow and the papers would be on their way to Rome to be defrocked.

If we had a nickel for every rat on the ship just like him that led the people we love astray the last 50 years, we'd all be rich.

This is it. This is why Pope Francis's attack on faithful Catholics, endorsing immoral conduct and prancing around telling us it's a waltz of mercy, caring and kindness received such a visceral reaction.

The sermon I heard from the priest today spoke about the importance of faithfully teaching others right from wrong, and the sufferings of so many parents who are in pain because their children have been misled by teachers and the ordained, the consequences we are all experiencing in the world because of the dereliction of duty. I had to hold back tears for all of us!

That is the tack Pope Francis should have taken.

Not telling us mercy hooodwinks the people we love into immorality and insults, slanders and threatens the people who expose their misconduct.