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Here to Add Your Gift to the Spiritual Bouquet
A Spiritual Bouquet for an
Urgent Spiritual Need
Dear Friend,
Although it’s a rare event, the
Pope has called all the Cardinals of the Church to convene in Rome to
meet with him for two days this month. This meeting is called a
Consistory, which simply means “to stand together” in
Latin.
Currently there are 245 Cardinals
in the Catholic Church, including 120 of whom are over the age of 80.
These cardinals cannot vote in a conclave but they can, if possible,
attend meetings of this sort to offer their wisdom to the Pope for the
good of the Church. Now, you can add
your gift to the spiritual bouquet dedicated to this
consistory.
Consistory is an unusual term, but
we shouldn’t think a meeting of this type is unusual in itself or an
indication of some kind of crisis. It is entirely appropriate for a
pope at the beginning of his pontificate to call together all of his
primary advisors and seek their counsel on matters of importance for
the Church.
The cardinals will “stand together”
with the Vicar of Christ for two days of high level meetings and offer
their wisdom and perspective on the matters that affect Catholics and
the work of evangelization around the world.
A couple things are relevant to a
meeting like this:
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International Perspective: The College of Cardinals is no longer a cohort of Italian or
largely European cardinals as it was known to be for many centuries.
The pope gets a truly international perspective from Cardinals who now
come from every corner of the globe. The “internationalization” of the
College of Cardinals really began with Pope John Paul II and has
continued in all subsequent pontificates. We can see that as a very
positive development for the universal Church.
-
View “From the Ground”: While there are many Cardinals who work in the Vatican
itself, most of the Cardinals are actually the heads of important
archdioceses throughout the world. The opposite of taking
an ivory tower approach, meeting with these pastors of souls give the
pope a real-time view of what is happening at the grass roots level of
the Church. That is also a positive aspect of such a
meeting, in that it widens the range of wisdom that informs church
decisions.
-
Continuity with Tradition: The cardinals generally ensure a kind of continuity in the
Church, since their appointments make them actual members of the
clergy of the Diocese of Rome. Every pope has his own style and agenda
for the Church, but it is also true that every pope must act in
continuity with the Tradition of the Church.
In the last pontificate, I think we
witnessed a clear example of this absolutely critical function of
sacred Tradition. When churchmen are attentive to the Spirit of
Christ, the Catholic Church’s long-standing Tradition of teaching,
devotion, and prayer helps to discipline agendas that are
foreign to the Spirit of Christ.
Tradition, represented in an
intense way by the cardinals, is that deep-seated discernment of God’s
will that is handed down in the hearts of the faithful from the
Apostles. Tradition keeps our Church from going off the rails into
heresy. No other Church has the guarantee that “the gates of hell will
not prevail” against her.
Our Spiritual
Bouquet is therefore of major importance for this meeting. We pray
both for the wellbeing of the Cardinals themselves and also for their
spiritual discernment of issues and concerns that should be the main
focus of the divinely-instituted Catholic mission of bringing Christ’s
salvation to the ends of the earth.
Come Holy Spirit and fill the
hearts of the Cardinals to discern the Will of God in the upcoming
consistory!
Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of
Mary,
Thomas McKenna
Founder and President
Catholic Action For Faith And Family
https://www.catholicaction.org/
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