Edit: the following is a Sunday guest post from Laramie.
Sharing The Love On Fatima's Anniversary
By Laramie Hirsch
You would think that on the centennial anniversary of an apparition foretelling the world's doom, a Catholic would expect to hear a homily discussing either apocalyptic themes or perhaps a call to repentance with heavy emphasis on the use of the confessional. Or, if you are attending a Novus Ordo parish on the anniversary of Fatima, you can perhaps expect to hear a lovely little sermon about "the beautiful Miracle of the Sun." Myself, I can imagine a priest droning on and on about the beauty of God's miracles without even once mentioning a thing about the messages of the omen.
None of this was the case at a certain diocesan parish that I sometimes discuss. Though this parish has been hosting a TLM community since the reign of Pope Benedict XVI, it has recently been coming under fire under the tenure of Tulsa's latest Pope-Francis-installed bishop.
Instead of mentioning anything at all about Fatima, the Latin Mass community was roasted by the priest for not "pulling their weight" with the collections. The overall message was this: Look folks, you have a nice Latin Mass thing going on here, but it ain't gonna pay for itself. We're in the red, and you need to pick up the slack.
Of course, the parish in question has been in the red before, so there's that. But on the other hand, this parish is in a very low-income part of the city--usually the kind of parish location where the TLM community is funneled to. But this sermon was given in spite of the fact that this year's collections were a substantial improvement from the previous year's collections.
Income
According to the parish church bulletin I've obtained, the facts and figures are thus:
Anglos (28% of the parish) contribute 40%
Hispanics (60% of the parish) contribute 46%
Latin (12% of the parish) contribute 24%
(The term "Anglos" is the priest's terminology, not mine. The priest even went in to comparing the annual income of the parish's neighborhood with the more well-off neighborhoods in the city.)
Now, consider how treasured the Hispanic community is to our bishops. Consider how they are embraced and welcomed with full love by the liberal Church hierarchy and Leftist priests throughout the United States. Consider how these priests will gladly stand outside the church to greet the Hispanic crowds with a smile. And then, consider the disdain that is showered upon those who take Catholicism seriously--the Latin Mass laity--who is considered the black sheep of the Catholic world.
In this situation, we see that the Latin laity brings in TWICE the amount of money that would represent them. Even when counting for sacramental donations and annual Kermes, the Hispanic community still cannot "carry their own weight." (A kermes is a sort of Hispanic festival that's held as a parish fundraiser.)
Nevertheless, the priest will continue to be stern, giving the congregation veiled threats of parish failure if they don't bring in more money.
The indelicate "sermon" was a slap in the face. To add insult to injury, this was only the second time the newly-installed priest--who is hostile to the TLM--gave any kind of homily to the Latin community. And, perhaps as expected, he did not help the Latin priest distribute communion.
Moral Of This Story
The New Order Church has it out for all remnants of the Catholic Church as your fathers knew it. It is easy to read about this sort of thing on the internet or in a book. But I must say, to witness this spectacle in person--the blackballing, the passive aggressiveness, the icing out--to see it all live and up front is quite startling to hear about.
A priest has recently been cited to say that:
"It's no use hankering for that 'Sunday Catholic' lifestyle which Traditionalists made a great effort to restore after the earthquake of Vatican II. Both the 1950s and the 1970s are gone forever. By this crisis God is purifying His Church, which may be reduced to numbers and to a lifestyle close to those of the early Church."
This same priest warns us that the beautiful buildings, relics, artwork, and museums will all be lost, so we should brace ourselves. Latin communities are holding on to the treasures of the Church by their fingertips. But at the end of the day, the laity doesn't carry the authority of a priesthood. We are told by Our Lady of Akita that the only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by my Son. This is not hard to imagine in a Catholic Church that now intends to celebrate Martin Luther.
The wolves are circling, and our previous pope fled in fear of them.
AMDG