Fr Z: But This Kind Does Not Go Out Except by P̶r̶a̶y̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶F̶a̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ Money

Father John Zuhlsdorf

From the blog of John Zuhlsdorf, Catholic priest [emphasis Zuhlsdorf]:

As I have commented before, a great deal of the clean up of The Present Crisis will be (must be) driven by lay people, who have, above all, numbers, and who have, ultimately, the money.

This will be a two-edged sword.

The sword, I think, has been drawn.

Yes, believe it or not, Father John Zuhlsdorf thinks the answer to the crisis in the Church is numbers, i,e., power, and money. Specifically, Zuhlsdorf is suggesting that the laity use their power to withhold money from the Church until the hierarchy does what they, the laity, want, and of course, Zuhlsdorf's readership wants only what he, Zuhlsdorf, tells them they want.

There is another name for this: blackmail.

I think I missed this verse in the Bible, because I distinctly remember that prayer and fasting are the tools that drive out evil. Matthew 17:21. But according to John Zuhlsdorf, our greatest tools are power and money. That is the real two edged sword.

Zuhlsdorf wrote the above statement in a blog post entitled, "Lay Rage in Chicago, Mary Eberstadt takes names, and Fr. Z rants."  Mary Eberstadt is a conservative writer for Weekly Standard and other equally ultra conservative organizations, including First Things.

In the article Zuhlsdorf links to, Eberstadt writes in a very positive and supporting manner of the allegations made by Archbishop Vigano, and she attacks those who question the veracity of Vigano's allegations:

Many agonized Catholics desiring only to know whether allegations are true are now accused of participating in religious treason—of planning a “putsch” within the church, as Michael Sean Winters has put it in the National Catholic Reporter. Or consider some characterizations of the testimony of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former nuncio to the United States and author of a historically unprecedented and detailed 11-page letter released last month, accusing the pope and others of covering up abuse. Theologian Massimo Faggioli has called the work a “coup operation.” Fr. James Martin has tweeted similarly of a “coordinated attack” intended to “delegitimize” the pope.

This list could go on and on. Such martial language is designed to marginalize and malign anyone interested in the veracity of Viganò’s claims. It also sends the terrible signal that some churchmen and theologians underestimate the sufferings caused by unchecked abusers hiding behind Roman collars. The increasingly hysterical insistence that all will be well if only everyone leaves the pope alone underestimates the intelligence of the laity. Anyone who has read Viganò’s letter knows that the testimonial isn’t some anonymous comment tossed into cyberspace but a series of intricate assertions about who knew what and when—all of which can be verified or not in the long run. That bishops and others in authority have testified to the credibility of its author makes the document even harder to discredit, let alone ignore.

You can see from these two paragraphs written by Eberstadt why Zuhlsdorf likes her.  As he says in his post: "She nails it." 

After Eberstadt's statement, "The increasingly hysterical insistence that all will be well if only everyone leaves the pope alone underestimates the intelligence of the laity," Zuhlsdorf comments: "Do I hear an 'Amen!'?"  

Why, in Zuhlsdorf's mind, should that statement rate an "Amen"?  Eberstadt is telling us, the laity, that unless we stand up to the hierarchy of the Church, including and most especially Pope Francis, then we are just stupid.  And you don't want to be stupid, do you?

 As she writes, and as Zuhlsdorf endorses, "And thanks again to the Internet, the same laity is scrutinizing the hierarchy as never before."  Eberstadt and Zuhlsdorf are pushing for more and more division and rebellion in the Church.

Zuhlsdorf is right on the front lines in the coup against Pope Francis. He is doing everything he can to turn his readership against Pope Francis. He never posts about the Holy Father except in a negative light. Zuhlsdorf feels that the laity has a perfect right to question Pope Francis and everything he stands for.

Back to his original comment that numbers, i.e, power, and money will drive the "clean up" of the present crisis, Zuhlsdorf is hardly the first person to tell us to withhold money from the Church. Our good friend, Michael Voris, has said it many times.

As I wrote in a post entitled, "Michael Voris Calls For The Destruction Of The Catholic Church." Voris said:

Since money seems to be the only thing that motivates the Establishment Church – it is more than time for the faithful to begin withholding contributions. Why give money to a diocese that is gonna use that money to keep the status quo going – to abuse faithful Catholics while supporting fake Catholics – parishes and individuals.

This seems to echo Zuhlsdorf's feelings as well.

In summarizing Voris' position regarding withholding financial support of the Church, I wrote:

You silly Catholics who actually thought prayer was the way to go. How could you be so naive? We've got to financially starve the Church to death. That is the only way to save her.

Certainly, this also summarizes Zuhldorf's position.

The problem is, Catholics are obligated by Church law to financially support the Church to the best of their ability. These are the minimum requirements of being Catholic:

The chief commandments, or laws, of the Church are these six:
1. To assist at Holy Mass on all Sundays and holydays of obligation.
2. To fast and to abstain on the days appointed.
3. To confess our sins at least once a year.
4. To receive Holy Communion during the Easter time.
5. To contribute to the support of the Church.
6. To observe the laws of the Church concerning marriage.

So John Zuhlsdorf, like Michael Voris and others, is telling us to disobey one of the chief commandments of the Church and by doing so, put our eternal souls in jeopardy.

Boycotts are an American invention. Our society is based on money. In our society, money equals power, and so if we want to make a statement or destroy anyone, we use money as a weapon.

Neither Jesus Christ, nor any of the apostles, nor any writings of the saints ever even hint that we are to use our power and material wealth against the Church at any time or for any reason. In fact, power and material wealth are the tools of the devil, as these were two of the temptations Satan used against Jesus Christ.

Any admonition to use our financial power, or any other human, earthly power we have as weapons against the Church is nothing less than a direct temptation from Satan. God never has and never will work through human strength. Our Lord uses our weakness, not our strengths, to confound the world.

When God chose a nation, He chose a slave nation with no power. When He chose the King of Israel, he chose a young shepherd boy who was discounted even by his own father. When God chose a woman to be his earthly mother, He chose a poor young girl unknown to anyone outside of her small circle.

When Jesus came to earth, He did so in absolute poverty, being born in a dirty manger surrounded by farm animals. He grew up and lived in poverty, unknown to the world. When he died, He was scorned as a criminal and had the little He owned taken away from Him, dying naked on a cross.

As the Apostle Paul told us, "When I am weak, then I am strong." We are never stronger than when we are on our knees. Our strength comes not from ourselves or anything we have. Our strength is found in the Eucharist.

Do you think God needs your money to sustain His Church? Is the Church's power found in money? That is what people like John Zuhlsdorf and Michael Voris would have you believe. They want you to think that you hold the future of the Church in your hands. That is not a message from the Holy Spirit.

But Zuhlsdorf was not done in his post. It isn't just money and power that can save the Church. As he wrote, it is a good time to repeat his mantra: Save the Liturgy, Save the World:

No initiative that we undertake in the Church – including cleansing – will succeed if it does not begin with and return to our sacred liturgical worship of God.

We must revitalize our liturgical worship. This is URGENT. In turn, this will have a massive knock-on effect on priests and, with them congregations.

It amazes me that we are still hearing this refrain from the traditionalists. As I wrote HERE, when Summorum Pontificum was put in place in 2007, the trads told us that this would revitalize the Church. The Traditional Latin Mass will pull people back into the Churches.

It has been 11 years. A Gallup Poll released in 2017 shows that weekly Mass attendance among Catholics, which had actually stabilized in the US in 2007, has plummeted even further, going from 45% to 39%.

Contrary to Zuhlsdorf's mantra, "saving the liturgy" has not saved the world.

John Zuhlsdorf and the rest of the trads completely ignore Jesus Christ when he said, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35.

The trads believe that the identifying sign of a true Catholic is Latin, heavy vestments, Gregorian chant, Gothic style churches, communion on the tongue, priests facing towards the altar and not towards the people, etc. etc. This is where the trads derive their identity.

Matthew 25 gives the true identifying signs of His followers. All of these signs have to do with how we treat each other. There is nothing in there about "restoration of the Liturgy".

As Matthew 7 tells us:

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’

23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Pope St. John Paul II said, "What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And, without the love of Jesus, everything is useless.”

And no one ever said it better than St John of the Cross: "At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love."