Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio. When The Church Deserves Censure.

Dear Fred,

I was struck by the following quotation embedded in today's missive from Franciscan Media.

"Saint of the Day" - Sebastian of Aparicio: "There is a contract between the world and the friars. The friars must give the world a good example; the world must provide for their needs. When they break faith and withdraw their good example, the world will withdraw its hand in a just censure" (2 Celano, #70).

The Catholic Church -- certainly The Vatican and those dioceses that colluded in priestly pederasty -- have broken faith with "the world" and deserve stiff censure. (Remarkably, it was "the world's" press that brought this travesty to light while every Catholic publication in the world remained silent. They knew what was going on -- I knew what was going on! -- and they chose to collude with "authority." Here is the logic: "If you cannot say anything nice about the priests who are raping and sodomizing our kids, don't say anything at all.")

Only by severe censure will these feet-dragging, career-climbing hierarchs muck their stables. The offal has become so encrusted that cleansing will be a herculean task - nowhere more so than in the Vatican. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augean_stables

I am pasting Franciscan Media's entire email below, followed by my message to friend Minerva, an ex-nun (and current Mayan civil rights lawyer) who was born and raised in Puebla, Sebastian's chosen home.

A revealing note... 

Minerva left the convent after petitioning Mother Superior to authorize "service to the poor" and being told, "The Jesuits are already doing that."

Tangent...

Although Anne LaMott popularized the following saying, it was Jesuit friend, Tom Weston, who said, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out God hates all the same people you do.” 

What if "salvation" depends on the cessation of individual condemnation -- an ugly, destructive, "Christian" trait often rooted in "justified" hatefulness? 

Here is what Yeshua says about judgmental condemnation: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206:%2027-38&version=NIV  (It is inconveniently true that the Nazarene routinely celebrated with the very roustabouts whom "good Christians" consider sinners, simultaneously reserving vitriolic rebuke for upstanding churchgoers. We might wisely acknowledge the ubiquity of punctilious Pharisees in every generation. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23&version=NIV

Today, I resume work on "How To Prevent Catholicism's Suicide... and The Restoration Of Christendom." (Do you remember how fast the unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union?)

Pax on both houses,

Alan

PS Here is Sebastian's Spanish language Wikipedia page. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_de_Aparicio  (There is no English language page dedicated to Sebastian.)

PPS "I'm Not Quitting The Church" by E.J. Dionne Jr. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/02/im-not-quitting-church-ej-dionne-jr.html

Monday, February 25, 2013 Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio (1502-1600) Sebastian’s roads and bridges connected many distant places. His final bridge-building was to help men and women recognize their God-given dignity and destiny.Sebastian’s parents were Spanish peasants. At the age of 31 he sailed to Mexico, where he began working in the fields. Eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce. His 466-mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas took 10 years to build and required careful negotiations with the indigenous peoples along the way. In time Sebastian was a wealthy farmer and rancher. At the age of 60 he entered a virginal marriage. His wife’s motivation may have been a large inheritance; his was to provide a respectable life for a girl without even a modest marriage dowry. When his first wife died, he entered another virginal marriage for the same reason; his second wife also died young. At the age of 72 Sebastian distributed his goods among the poor and entered the Franciscans as a brother. Assigned to the large (100-member) friary at Puebla de los Angeles south of Mexico City, Sebastian went out collecting alms for the friars for the next 25 years. His charity to all earned him the nickname "Angel of Mexico." Sebastian was beatified in 1787 and is known as a patron of travelers. COMMENT: According to the Rule of St. Francis, the friars were to work for their daily bread. Sometimes, however, their work would not provide for their needs; for example, working with people suffering from leprosy brought little or no pay. In cases such as these, the friars were allowed to beg, always keeping in mind the admonition of Francis to let their good example commend them to the people. The life of the prayerful Sebastian, still hard at work in his 90's, certainly drew many closer to God. QUOTE: St. Francis once told his followers: "There is a contract between the world and the friars. The friars must give the world a good example; the world must provide for their needs. When they break faith and withdraw their good example, the world will withdraw its hand in a just censure" (2 Celano, #70).

Estimada Minerva,

Hoy, celebramos la fiesta del Bendito Sebastian de Aparicio quien paso' la mayor parte de su adultez en Puebla.

Antes de hacerse un fraile franciscano, superviso' la construccion de la primera carretera entre D.F. y Puebla. 

El apodo del bendito Sebastian es "Angel de Mexico."

Decia el santo: 'Hay un contrato entre el mundo y los frailes. Los frailes deben de dar al mundo un buen ejemplo y el mundo debe de proveer para las necesidades de los frailes. Cuando se rompe la fe y se retira su buen ejemplo, el mundo retirará su mano en una censura justa.'

Aqui esta' la pagina Wikipedia de Sebastian. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_de_Aparicio

Saludos a todos!

Paz con ustedes,

Alan