Will Pope Francis Receive his Epiphany?

Guest Post by David Martin

A longing for God means a longing for the Ancient of Days who knows no change. True Catholics are content with God and seek no change, and consider it a great honor to continue in this usual fare of keeping his Commandments. Being led by the Spirit of God, they keep their eye on the Messiah without veering to the left or the right, being ever rooted in His Law. This is what we call fidelity.

This sharply contrasts the mindset of the modernist, who is characterized by a restless need for change. In the same way adulterous spouses get antsy and run after new lovers, so these infidels develop itching ears and cast aside the true and lasting gold of Heaven, and run after the cheap desires of their heart. This is what we call temptation. 

On the Feast of the Epiphany, we reflected on the Three Wise Men who were privileged to come behold the new-born Messiah in the manger. They are called "wise" because they sought only God, and because of this God deigned to reward them by guiding them in a miraculous way to come behold the glory of the God made-man who had been the source of their peace all along.

Now at the Mass in honor of the Epiphany that was celebrated at St. Peter's Basilica on January 6, Pope Francis said: "The Magi experienced longing; they were tired of the usual fare. They were all too familiar with, and weary of, the Herods of their own day."

The Herods of our day are those who advocate adultery and who furiously lash out against the John the Baptists who censure their adultery and who refuse to grant their blessing thereto. The four cardinals who are in dubia of the pope's new policy of granting Communion to adulterers are certainly among the victims of today's Herodian persecution.

The pope continued his discourse on the Magi, saying, "Their hearts were open to the horizon.... They were guided by an inner restlessness, they were open to something new." He hinted that rules and regulations are a form of "tyranny," and said, "Longing for God draws us out of our iron-clad isolation, which makes us think that nothing can change."

The pope's homily is an indirect slap in the face to the saints of history who refused to change and who held tenaciously to the laws and traditions of Christ. But it's also an insult to the Magi themselves by saying that "they were guided by an inner restlessness" in quest of "something new." The implication is that the Magi were looking for change.

Nay, the Magi were holy men who were established in the law and spirit of God, and who sought no change. Being established in peace, God found them worthy to be first-hand witnesses of the newly born Prince of Peace who had been the Author of their peace all along. These wise men were not "tired of the usual fare," but were earnestly in search of its source.

Francis recounts how the Magi in their quest for the Christ Child were first led to "Herod's Palace," which being "iron-clad" and decked with all manner of "outward appearance and superiority," did not offer guiding light for the sojourners in their search, thus forcing them to move on. The implication is that expensive marble palaces that hold to "iron-clad" rules do not lead us to the sight of Christ.

This calls to mind the thinking of Martin Luther, who alleged that the Catholic Church is a man-made "palace" bound by its own iron-clad "traditions and rules" and which offers no guiding light for mankind. Luther's definition of "repent" was to forever leave the Catholic Church and seek Christ in "freedom."

How is it that the Vatican now officially recognizes Martin Luther—a condemned heretic—as a "witness to the Gospel," and is calling upon all Catholic dioceses of the world to commemorate Luther this upcoming January 18-25 as part of the 500th anniversary celebration of the Protestant Reformation? A statue of Luther has even been set up in the Vatican. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-catholics-now-recognize-martin-luther-as-a-witness-to-the-gospel

Is it any wonder why Francis is now echoing the heretical anti-church mentality of Luther by prodding Catholics to leave Church tradition and flow with the change of our times? The pope himself recently said that "resistance" to change that "takes refuge in traditions" is of "the devil" Pope Francis says that ‘malicious resistance’ to his reforms that ‘takes refuge in traditions’ is from the devil  Has Francis apostatized from the Faith? 

Let us pray that Pope Francis will receive his own Epiphany, wherein the light of holy tradition can permeate his heart and lead him back to the foot of the Cross, so that the Masses he says are not just empty pomp of a new order, but meaningful acts of reparation in acknowledgment of the fact that Christ today is being recrucified by his own Vatican hierarchy.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/01/06/the-magi-embody-all-those-who-long-for-god-says-pope-francis/