THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL

We seem to be living in times of events of truly Biblical dimensions. Is it possible that the Church, separated since 1054, may be about to join together once again? Will we see both halves of the body, the mystical east and the scholarly west, the spiritual and material, the reflection of our human nature and the divine nature of God brought together to restore harmony and balance, power and truth, to a Church nearly destroyed by corruption both inside and out? Pray for the restoration of the Church established by Christ with all the power and purpose He intended. Pray also for those that would set this right. The forces of evil are playing for keeps. It's now or never for them and they know it. They will do whatever they think necessary to thwart the plans of God and destroy those that are doing His will.

"A storm is about to be unleashed on the Pope, the Vatican, and, by extension, the Catholic Church.

The first drops of rain have just fallen, with public accusations that the Pope lied this winter in connection with the "Williamson affair." (see below)

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What is it about?

Whether this storm will "blow over," or intensify into a "perfect storm," only time will tell.

But whatever happens, there is this to keep in mind: many, inside and outside of the Church, would like the Church's traditional liturgy, known as the Latin Mass -- the old liturgy celebrated up until 1970, and two years ago designated by Pope Benedict XVI as the "extraordinary rite" of the Mass -- to disappear.

And they are irritated that Benedict -- against many and vociferous objections -- "restored" the old liturgy, which many thought had been buried definitively.

As strange as it may seem, this battle is in part about that -- about the survival of the Church's old liturgy -- about her way of worshipping God.

But when I say this, I do not mean to downplay other, quite obvious concerns, for example, the tense situation in the Middle East, or in the world economy.

I mean to say that, on a fundamental level, it is not simply a political or economic battle, as important as political and economic factors are, but a spiritual battle.


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Is Rome alone?

And at a time like this, when many forces in the West (the European Union, the new US administration) seem to be aligning themselves in favor of a thoroughly secularized "new world order," the ally most helpful to Rome may well be the ally who still celebrates a divine liturgy which has not been modernized: the Orthodox.

And the most numerous and powerful of the Orthodox are the Russians.

In this perspective, these attacks on the Pope and the Vatican may drive Rome to ally herself, after a thousand years of separation, with Contantinople, and with Moscow -- reuniting the "three Romes"..."

Inside the Vatican