Author: Pete Vere

Help for a sincere mom re RC retreats

Reader Susan’s cry for help is one that many readers can identify with:

Help!! I am scheduled to attend a mother daughter retreat with my teenage daughters sponsored by Regnum Christi. I have only recently become familiar with this LC/RC situation and I must say that I am thoroughly disgusted and confused. Do the RC members continue to quote/recognize/acknowledge Maciel at the retreat centers? If so, I will not attend. I have left a message at Mt. Kisco but not sure if it will be returned in time. Between this and the situation in Europe, I am feeling very disheartened about the Church overall and not much in the mood for a retreat, but I don’t want my feelings to affect my children. My daughters are excited about attending this and we are going with good friends. Any advice??

Susan, as a fellow parent I both understand and appreciate your concern. In fact, your situation is similar to one that came up in discussion last year over enrolling one’s daughters in RC-sponsored Pure Fashion. I would invite you to check out the post, which identifies some problems and offers a practical alternative for Catholic moms and daughters to grow together spiritually. Please click here.
Additionally, many monasteries and some convents, take retreatants. Some have special guest houses for women. As a teen I attended several youth retreats – via both the Catholic Church and the PAOC (Canada’s equivalent to Assemblies of God) that were “teen orientated” – retreats like Antioch, Youth Encounter, etc. I even attended spiritual exercises with the SSPX.
However, the most memorable retreats for me were the times my dad took me to the Trappist monastery in Oka or Orangeville, or my visit to the Benedictine Monastery in St. Benoit du Lac. Ironically, it was after a retreat with these old, tried and contemplative orders that I discerned God calling me back to the Catholic Church – the first time home from evangelical protestantism, and the second time home from radical traditionalism. In retrospect, I feel there is something about praying in a relaxed and simple surrounding, in the middle of nature, that draws the soul back to God.
The other nice thing is that one’s schedule is open. So one can join the monks for prayer and mass followed by a breakfast of fresh bread and fruits. Then take a walk around the monastery grounds, while praying the Rosary, before joining the monks for more prayer and lunch. Then drive into town for a little mother-daughter shopping in small town boutiques, take in the local sights and grab supper – using it as an opportunity to really converse with your girls. Then return to the monastery for evening prayer followed by recollection and night prayer.
As many of us have discovered as parents doing our best to raise our kids Catholic, what speaks most to our children is our time. We don’t need fancy retreats, programs, marketing, etc… What we need to do is take the time to introduce them to simple Catholicism, to old charisms like that of the Benedictine which is both tested and true.
For instance, like we try and do every summer, our family will probably mix our summer vacation at Mackinac Island and Jellystone Park with a day at this national Franciscan shrine. So it’s Yogi Bear in the morning; Mass with the Franciscans and the National Nun Doll Museum in the afternoon; followed by an evening shopping along the boardwalk at St. Ignace. Then back to the trailer to pray the rosary while roasting marshmallows by campfire. Sometimes we arrange to meet up with other Catholic families, sometimes we just happen to run into them and plans merge for the afternoon or evening.
In fact, if any of you live in Michigan and enjoy camping, you’re welcome to join us this summer. Perhaps we could all get together for the Canada Day – Independence Day long weekend. There are several KOAs and a couple of Jellystone Parks between St. Ignace and Higgins Lake. It’s just a matter of picking one; putting together a loose schedule that combines prayer time, historical time, fun time and family time; and meeting up.

From around the blogs

I’ve been called away for the weekend and won’t have regular Internet access. However, as Giselle and I have been saying for the last few months, we’re getting a little long in the tooth. So we’re quite happy to see newer, fresher blog voices arise to help Catholics make sense of the Legion of Christ/ Regnum Christi crises. Among some of these voices who have posted good commentary over the past few days:
– Deirdre Mundy (aka Mouse at American Papist), a devoted Catholic mother, launches an appeal To the Mothers of Regnum Christi.
– Tea-drinker Erin Manning (aka Red Cardigan), a devoted Catholic mom herself, asks whether one in good conscience should support LC/RC-sponsored apostolates directed toward families (click here).
– Nat at May Contain Gnats has systematized several Changobeer posts from over the years to show that LC/RC methodology (what is known in more traditional religious orders as the charism) is intrinsically linked to the person of Maciel (click here).
– And the plot sickens over at ExLC blog, where Landon Cody (okay, he’s not new) has posted a group photo of Maciel, the two Normas, and some 3gf (click here). Anyone else notice that the younger Norma’s dress, while lovely, does not appear to meet the Pure Fashion modesty guidelines?
– Sam, a non-RC husband who feels abandoned by his RC wife, has posted a brilliant piece of sarcasm (At least I hope it’s sarcasm! Please pray for Sam and other spouses in his situation.)
– Meanwhile, my fellow Canuck Bonum, Verum, Pulchrum (who I’m hoping to catch up with for a beer this weekend) has been distracted from the LC/RC-related blogging by Ann Coulter’s riotous (literally!) speaking tour in Canada. Check out his blog for the video of Ann on the Michael Coren show.

Beware monks pushing pope under bus

The kids and I are out with a bad cold, which thankfully, has spared my wife who is looking after us. So your homework assignment for today – particularly those who are new to the debate – is to read and reflect on the following:
1 – Former Legionary priest Jack Keogh (aka Monk)’s response to Pope Benedict’s letter to the Irish, Is it time to convene the Third Vatican Council. Although it would be a gross exaggeration to proclaim Monk as an unofficial blog spokesman for the Legion, I have found that his missives around the net often line up with what appears to be current Legion thinking concerning the crisis. So it’s worth a read, even if I disagree with much of what he wrote. (For some clear thinking on Pope Benedict’s leadership in addressing the sex abuse crisis, read John Allen’s following reflection on the topic.)
2 – Thus I’m curious to see whether in the coming month or two the Legion hierarchy attempts to throw Pope Benedict under the bus – not by full out accusations of complicity, mind you, but rather by indirect suggestion. That being said, I’m not Irish. My Catholic ancestors were Italian and Polish, and I was schooled in the French Catholic school system. All this meaning that stories about monks and cows and sayings like “God draws strait with crooked lines” were not part of our Catholic curriculum growing up. Rather, we were taught the expression ‘Qui mange du pape, meurt.‘ This loosely translated into English as “Whoever eats of the pope will choke to death.” So to my Regnum Christi readers – as well as Legionary resisters and philosophers – beware if the Legion tries to throw Benedict under the bus. Historically the bus has a funny way of missing the pope and crushing the crowd. Re-read my posting from a year ago – How schism becomes an option.
3 – Speaking of French-Canadian Catholicism and schism becoming an option, throughout this controversy I have often drawn comparisons between the Legion and the Fils de Marie. At one time – I am told both by former Legionaries and former Fils – the two orders were extremely close allies in Rome among new ecclesiastical movements. Their seminarians were allowed to mingle freely and unchaperoned, I am told, a privilege neither order afforded to any other outside order. In fact, the Fils de Marie are probably the reason the Legion was unable to garner much of a following in French-speaking Canada until recently. Thus I recommend reading Rick Ross’s dossier on the Armee de Marie/ Fils de Marie, which you can visit by clicking here.
4 – By now, several Regnum Christi readers are saying “Schism? That could never happen to us, we are totally obedient to the Pope.” Here’s a cautionary tale. Cutting through canonical jargon, I’ve seen several movements suddenly go into schism after years of claiming total obedience to the Pope. In the vast majority of cases, members never thought the movement would become schismatic or disobedient to the Holy See. Yes, it happened to other groups that claimed Catholic orthodoxy and total submission to Rome, but folks believed their particular groups was different. “Just look at the fruits,” is a common argument. What happens is that the claim of total obedience to the Pope is often a facade for avoiding criticism or oversight by local Church authorities (like diocesan bishops). The movement portrays local Church authorities as liberal dissenters who hate the movement for its orthodoxy. When the Pope sides with the wider Church, members feel betrayed and come to believe the Pope is part of the conspiracy, although they will usually argue at first that the Pope is an unwilling part. Think of the “Maciel took a hit for the Church because the Pope was under pressure by the Church’s enemies” argument put forward after the 2006 communique.

Fr. Paul Marx, RIP

Benedictine priest and former Human Life International president (and I believe founder) Fr. Paul Marx has passed away over the weekend. Fr. Marx was truly a great man of God. Let us pray for the repose of his soul, so that he may continue to intercede with Our Lord for children in the womb. Paul Zalonski has posted the details here.