Everyone has Francis Fatigue. So what’s next, intrepid 1P5ers?
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Steve Skojec is the Founding Publisher of OnePeterFive.com. He received his BA in Communications and Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2001. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Crisis Magazine, EWTN, Huffington Post Live, The Fox News Channel, Foreign Policy, and the BBC. Steve and his wife Jamie have eight children. You can find more of his writing at his Substack, The Skojec File.
Sewerage in the basement is a very good analogy. Things will get much worse before they get much better. Another saying is that you can run but you can’t hide. Also expect WW3 in the Middle East within months. Most people do practice the ostrich strategy and get angry if you don’t reaffirm that. There will be the great schism as a result of Francis’ activities.Daily rosaries and Mass and Eucharistic Adoration, along with weekly confession, are necessary now in times of such massive evil. Living day to day requires heroic virtue now. Once the Warning – the 6th Seal – comes, then the massive conversions will give all of us faithful Catholics plenty to do. Look forward to that. As the Advent readings now indicate, look up for your redemption is nigh.
Lots of prayer. You must be undergirded by prayer. The soul of the apostolate is prayer.
I’m not wishing death on Pope Francis & it’s probably terrible to say this…But I’m at the point where everyday I yearn for the next time I hear “Habemus Papam!” & someone like Cardinal Sarah, Burke, or Bishop Athanasius Schneider were to walk out…I probably will literally break down & cry tears of joy & relief…
Unless Pope Francis gets “zapped by the Holy Spirit” & starts speaking clearly & solid Catholic things. That too…
Or Cardinal Fellay? Not impossible!
Man, that would be a dream come true. But miracles do happen! Haha!
Really, just a solid orthodox strong pope. Someone we may not even know about yet! Please Lord, how long will this go on?…Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
even Gadecki or Chaput… BUT not to deliberately throw out a downer, bergoglio is filling up the conclave & the vatican with modernists like cupich…oh sure, then he throws us a bone every once in awhile – to throw us off the track! impeach the antipope!
1) News fasts – or news diets – just not watching or listening to the news and limiting website access to news – does a world of good for my mental health and helping me be more productive. Everyone should try it.
2) Another vote here for more podcasts, although I recognize they are probably a lot of work for you.
3) It’s not Francis I; it’s every pope who gets paid too much attention to. The pope is not the church. We also need to pay less attention to leaders of governments, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Be the leader your community needs. Don’t criticize or follow others. I wish the Vatican could put a moratorium on encyclicals for the next 100 years, to take the focus off of Rome.
I am a big fan of the Zuhlsdorf Manifesto:
“stop focusing on the negativity”… Dude! Deja Vu… you’re no alone, Steve.
That was a great listen, Steve. Following your apostolate’s progression from the start, I sensed this sort of executive soul searching would come sooner than later. Attempting to rekindle among the faithful a deeper appreciation of the Catholic life just as Rome was gripped by another violent bout of heretical convulsions was bound to test your fortitude. One challenge is integrating 1P5’s much needed offerings on catechetical formation/devotional life/liturgical renewal with these very valuable and timely assessments of Church/State developments. Attempting to strike a balance between the two could cultivate an erroneous sense that the former is unaffected by the latter. How we pray is informed by how we live, and oh the times we live in! Every spotlighting of some reemerging traditional practice hither or yon is implicitly and necessarily an appraisal of the Church’s general state of affairs. The West’s long-drawn social unravelling plus sudden geopolitically aggravated circumstances may in the very near future greatly alter our experience of accessing sacraments, our civic involvement, our need for Catholic fraternity, etc.. So what if thinking a few steps ahead puts off the pollyannish who can’t reasonably anticipate more ecclesial and societal turbulence? You followed your well-formed gut this far. Keep praying and God is sure to lead you right.
All this time spent in the writing chair is definitely giving me a well-formed gut… 😉
My reading chair’s been no kinder to me 🙂
substitute lots with ann barnhardt…remember her recent rage on WUWTS? lol
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3) Having said that, the best advice I can offer you Steve is to exercise to the point of sweating at least 3 times a week. Sweat comes from places a shower never reaches.
And whenever you get the chance, watch the full number of series of star trek…
When Pope Francis was recently in the U.S.A. I decided not to watch TV, listen to radio, etc. I wanted simply to read the transcripts, and make my own discernment on his words. On the final day of his visit here, in the evening, I did turn the TV on to see him leaving Philadelphia. I watched as all cameras were upon him as he entered the airplane. Lights were on inside the plane, as it was dark by the time he boarded. I could clearly see him sit down and take a bottle of water near his window seat. I then saw a steward come forward and offer him a cup with ice in it. I then watched him very clearly pour one of those small alcohol bottles into his cup. He then proceeded to open and poor another into the same glass. Honestly, I could not believe my eyes. So when you wonder what happens in that pressurized cabin at 35,000 feet as the interviewing process takes place, it might have something to do with this! Just sayin!
Sounds great, Steve. We’ve set up a local group interested in the TLM, but I’m having a hard time finding good articles/info to encourage those who like the N.O. to look into the TLM. There’s plenty of material for people who are disgusted to validate their appraisal, but that doesn’t draw those who aren’t yet yearning for something different. It’s difficult to explain that what you see in the N.O. is missing something. I used to think it was necessary for someone to begin with something like De Mattei’s V2 Unwritten Story in order to see the mess and understand why the TLM is more complete, but I do not think that is the case. For centuries people of all walks loved and appreciated the Mass with varying degrees of understanding. How do you encourage Traditionalism without wagging a finger at all that is wrong today? Don’t get me wrong, fingers need wagging, but that’s not always the way to evangelize the innocent and ignorant. Many people I know will never pick up a tome like that or ever read the V2 documents, but I still believe they would benefit from the virility of the TLM. Where do you begin?
Thanks for what you do.
Yep, the problem with traditional minded Catholics (ie. Catholic Catholics) is similar to the problem of the conservative Catholics: too much emphasis on every word, deed, and snort of the Pope – all thanks to the wonderful world of the web. Have you ever heard of a time where every address, every visit, every word and action of the Pope has been disseminated and eagerly consumed by the faithful and unfaithful alike? I can’t. In the glorious days of yore (real or imagined) there might be a large span of time before the missionary out in the dripping jungle villages even knew the name of the new Pope. He knew his mission, he knew his faith and he got to work. So enough of this burying our heads in the computer screens. We already know there is no guidance from Rome, and plainly we don’t need it. We have our catechisms, we have the Saints, and we have common sense. Our faith does depend on one Man but that man is not the Pope; it’s Christ. If the Pope wants to wander off to get some oil for his lantern that’s fine; mine is full, I’ll stick around here.
The internet is a sewer for the sinner and a source of discouragement for the faithful. Why do we spend so much time on it? To unplug equals normal and healthy. To plug in equals despair. At the most use it only as a tool, do the job, get it done and put it up. Just like a hammer or a power steering pully puller.
I am fully tired of this papacy.
i am 100% with you, brother… …a lowly monk of Holy Mother Church…
Listening to your Podcast Steve you are a realist , you love the Truth; Jesus himself. Don’t be disheartened, carry on the good fight, run the race to the finish, keep the Faith, as I am sure you have always done. People with real, lived, supernatural Catholic Faith can see what The Pope is doing. All the benefit of the doubt for Francis is gone. It is Irrefutable now. The apologists for Pope Francis are spiritually blind, cowardly, or complicit, all are guilty of grave negligence in their practice of their Faith and will answer to God for it. The attacks you receive prove you are on the right path, sometimes a lonely and desolate one, but a path trodden by all the Saints before you, and boy do we need Saints in this period of history. Now maybe more than ever before. Never give up this work Steve, faithful Catholic’s need guidance in these perilous times and this gift that you have been given by God needs to be shared with others who need it.