PopeWatch: Burn of the Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.

“Get out of the Sacristy; get on to Grinder… ”
No.
Maybe the better statement is when we really listen to the Holy Spirit, we stop being conference Catholics or synod Catholics and seek the True Presence of the Most High.
Out of the sacristy… and into the sanctuary.
When we discover the true face of the Father, our faith matures: we no longer remain “pontifical Christians” but rather we stop running cover for our predatory compromised brethren simply because they are useful to our worldly goals.
It’s actually good spiritual advice, except:
A good spiritual director does not preface everything with a denunciation; and
It would be more effective if he lived it.
Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI both drew similarly large crowds for their weekly Angelus address to the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square. And at first Francis enjoyed similar numbers, but as the years have passed the crowds gathered to see and hear him have shrunk to about 20-30% of what his predecessors would regularly see. As Yogi Berra would put it, “people are staying away in droves”.
Also, recall the photos of St. Peter’s Square when Francis held his most recent consistory. Ordinarily a ceremony like that would pack the square with pilgrims and curious non-Catholic tourists, but pictures of the event showed large stretches of empty pavement and an embarrassingly sparse turnout.
People don’t like nags, especially when the nag is a hypocrite. Nor do they like bullies. Unfortunately for us all, that’s Francis.
Jesus Christ is the Revelation of God. “He who sees me sees the Father.”
“…the true face of the Father…” the Beatific Vision is in heaven.
This novena started yesterday;
https://catholicnovenaapp.com/novenas/holy-face-novena/