Greetings!
The title of today's post is a combination of the words "apostolate" and "apostasy", two subjects that came to my attention recently and deserve to be addressed.
In the Catholic world, apostolates are groups run by either lay people or religious and are dedicated to spreading a particular Catholic message to the world. They may have names like Latin Mass Society, Tradition-Family-Property, or Church Militant, each dedicated to spreading the Catholic message in a world that needs it. Apostolates may also be informal, like a particularly well-versed member of the parish advocating for the Faith to his fellow parishioners. While many apostolates are legit and do wonders for helping to both evangelize the unbelievers and reaffirm the faith of the flock, there are a number of apostolates out there that at first glance might seem orthodox, but a little digging reveals something else. And it's for that "something else" that I will not link to any of the apostolates I mention in this post.
About a week ago, a close friend of the family emailed my husband a link to an apostolate in Ohio called Holy Love. The subject of the link was that the bishop was cracking down on this particular apostolate, and that "Jesus was unhappy about it". I will not link to the website of this apostolate because I believe it to be dubious at best, heretical at worst. I came to that conclusion after taking a look around the apostolate's website and found that they claim Jesus and Mary make regular apparitions at the property this apostolate is located on. There was also a schedule of upcoming events that showed the apparitions slated to appear at certain times.
My reason for doubting the veracity of these appearances stems from what I'd been taught in Catechism class. The Austrian priest who taught me my Catechism explained that the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and the Saints do make appearances when they're needed, to whoever needs them and wherever that may be. What they do NOT do, however, is make scheduled appearances the way musicians do at rock concerts or what have you. Anybody who claims otherwise is either deluded or demonic.
I let this trip down the internet wormhole pass and went about life as usual, until Sunday when a friend's innocuous Facebook status about biscuits resulted in a person doing the internet equivalent of a bible-thumper howling about sin with their comment. The commenter, when finished yelling about the state of spiritual warfare, then linked to this website called the St. Michael World Apostolate.
This particular outfit claims to promote the message of Our Lady of Fatima, but reading through the website raised a number of red flags. For one, there was the whole "commies crawling out of the walls!" mentality and Russophobia invoked when describing the aftermath of Vatican II up till the present day. I found such blather insulting due to both my Russian heritage and my knowledge of history. Unfortunately, this ignorant fascist mindset is a sadly common feature of Fatimaistas (devotees of Our Lady of Fatima) and their various associations. The big one, however, was the obsession with the year 1972.
In 1972, Pope Paul VI made his famous remark that "the smoke of Satan had entered the Vatican". The site claimed that in that year, the pope was deposed and Satan incarnate sat on the Chair of Peter using a body double. In addition to that load of nonsense, the site featured an obviously doctored photo that their reputed "seer" interpreted as confirming that the Antichrist had indeed arrived on Earth in 1972.
It's crackpots like these apostolates mentioned that set my bullshit detector on high alert whenever someone mentions the name of an apostolate and how "spot-on" or "righteous" they are. Granted some are more crackpot than others, but spotting the bullshit never fails to set my blood boiling. THESE sorts of outfits are how good people of good faith get set out on a wrong and dangerous path. THIS is how people lose faith and become apostates. THIS kind of bullshit gives Catholicism a bad name. And these crackpots NEED to be cracked down on so that they don't cause more damage and drive more souls away!
The title of today's post is a combination of the words "apostolate" and "apostasy", two subjects that came to my attention recently and deserve to be addressed.
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| Defined, so I don't have to write it out. Pic found here |
In the Catholic world, apostolates are groups run by either lay people or religious and are dedicated to spreading a particular Catholic message to the world. They may have names like Latin Mass Society, Tradition-Family-Property, or Church Militant, each dedicated to spreading the Catholic message in a world that needs it. Apostolates may also be informal, like a particularly well-versed member of the parish advocating for the Faith to his fellow parishioners. While many apostolates are legit and do wonders for helping to both evangelize the unbelievers and reaffirm the faith of the flock, there are a number of apostolates out there that at first glance might seem orthodox, but a little digging reveals something else. And it's for that "something else" that I will not link to any of the apostolates I mention in this post.
About a week ago, a close friend of the family emailed my husband a link to an apostolate in Ohio called Holy Love. The subject of the link was that the bishop was cracking down on this particular apostolate, and that "Jesus was unhappy about it". I will not link to the website of this apostolate because I believe it to be dubious at best, heretical at worst. I came to that conclusion after taking a look around the apostolate's website and found that they claim Jesus and Mary make regular apparitions at the property this apostolate is located on. There was also a schedule of upcoming events that showed the apparitions slated to appear at certain times.
My reason for doubting the veracity of these appearances stems from what I'd been taught in Catechism class. The Austrian priest who taught me my Catechism explained that the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and the Saints do make appearances when they're needed, to whoever needs them and wherever that may be. What they do NOT do, however, is make scheduled appearances the way musicians do at rock concerts or what have you. Anybody who claims otherwise is either deluded or demonic.
I let this trip down the internet wormhole pass and went about life as usual, until Sunday when a friend's innocuous Facebook status about biscuits resulted in a person doing the internet equivalent of a bible-thumper howling about sin with their comment. The commenter, when finished yelling about the state of spiritual warfare, then linked to this website called the St. Michael World Apostolate.
 |
| Karl Malden was not a thumper. He just played one. I would have been very sad if he was. Pic found here |
This particular outfit claims to promote the message of Our Lady of Fatima, but reading through the website raised a number of red flags. For one, there was the whole "commies crawling out of the walls!" mentality and Russophobia invoked when describing the aftermath of Vatican II up till the present day. I found such blather insulting due to both my Russian heritage and my knowledge of history. Unfortunately, this ignorant fascist mindset is a sadly common feature of Fatimaistas (devotees of Our Lady of Fatima) and their various associations. The big one, however, was the obsession with the year 1972.
In 1972, Pope Paul VI made his famous remark that "the smoke of Satan had entered the Vatican". The site claimed that in that year, the pope was deposed and Satan incarnate sat on the Chair of Peter using a body double. In addition to that load of nonsense, the site featured an obviously doctored photo that their reputed "seer" interpreted as confirming that the Antichrist had indeed arrived on Earth in 1972.
It's crackpots like these apostolates mentioned that set my bullshit detector on high alert whenever someone mentions the name of an apostolate and how "spot-on" or "righteous" they are. Granted some are more crackpot than others, but spotting the bullshit never fails to set my blood boiling. THESE sorts of outfits are how good people of good faith get set out on a wrong and dangerous path. THIS is how people lose faith and become apostates. THIS kind of bullshit gives Catholicism a bad name. And these crackpots NEED to be cracked down on so that they don't cause more damage and drive more souls away!
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