The relativism of Sta. Cruz Church

I have already posted about this yearly abuse of Sta. Cruz Church, an abuse meant to accommodate the pagan feast of the Chinese New Year.

Now I can say that this is not a liturgical abuse but a clear manifestation of the relativism of the priests of the Sta. Cruz Church.

What is relativism?

St. John Paul II discussed it in Evangelium Vitae:

Freedom negates and destroys itself, and becomes a factor leading to the destruction of others, when it no longer recognizes and respects its essential link with the truth. When freedom, out of a desire to emancipate itself from all forms of tradition and authority, shuts out even the most obvious evidence of an objective and universal truth, which is the foundation of personal and social life, then the person ends up by no longer taking as the sole and indisputable point of reference for his own choices the truth about good and evil, but only his subjective and changeable opinion or, indeed, his selfish interest and whim.

Pope Benedict XVI also referenced relativism in his homily prior to the 2005 conclave that elected him pope:

How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves – thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error (cf Ephesians 4, 14). Having a clear Faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and "swept along by every wind of teaching", looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires. However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an "Adult" means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth.

From these we can draw that relativism is based on the following:

1. There is no objective and revealed truth.
2. Truth is based on one's experience.
3. One's ego makes the judge of all things.  This ego is mistakenly or maliciously called as "conscience"

This ego centric approach to revealed truth as handed down by the Church becomes so relative, a mere lay person or priest becomes the arbiter of what is good and bad for the Faith even though things such as paganism and geomancy become ways of "being a welcoming Church".

This is how the Blessed Sacrament Fathers of Sta, Cruz Church have acted these past celebrations of Chinese New Year.

You will see in the photos below.

Chinese Good Luck lanterns greet the pilgrims

Huge Chinese New Year banners opposite the Year of Mercy banners

And for the coup de grace, Good Luck signs all around the church.

I have already discussed this STUPIDITY in this previous post.  Click this link.

I have heard about how accommodating the SSS Fathers as long as the price is...

"Mr. Bob Barker finish my sentence"!!!

A friend priest once told me "TPC, you think these priests would toy with these things if money was not involved?"

Imagine what they will choose when shown so much fame, power and money... 

Meanwhile...

Because you need guys in lion costumes to drive the evil spirit away in a Catholic church.

Yeah, instead of an exorcist.

Was the lion dance a part of the Mass?  I don't know.  The GULP policeman did not mention it.

So what's wrong?

We are scandalized.

Why inside the church?  Why not outside?

So what's wrong inside the church? 

Because pagan matters have no business being inside a Catholic church unless they are about to be exorcized.

And the bishop should have used this as a teaching moment.

PS:  Was the LITURGICAL COLOR of THAT day RED???

Something interesting seen in the Manila Cathedral

See it?

Comment below.

This is a RARE sighting.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Molo, Iloilo

Not even the gnarly little fingers of Geny can influence the priests here to take away the crucifix at the center of the altar!

Bring back the crucifix at the center of the altar, not on the side, but at the center and on the altar!

This is the Benedictine Altar arrangement.  Benedictine meaning from the liturgical influence of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI and not the Benedictine monk who started the liturgical nonsense in the country.

TPC Kudos to the parish priest of St. Anne Parish in Iloilo!  You make your church befitting as a house of worship!  God bless you Father!!!

Kudos too to the TPC reader who sent this via Facebook.

A new "religious item" inside San Bartolome de Novaliches!

While "great" liturgists would like to take away the altar crucifix because it is "too distracting" and blocks the uber cute face of the main celebrant during Mass, there are those priests who would not think twice to place a vehicle inside the church as a "juicy" reminder for people that this is what is at stake for their fund raising raffle like this one in San Bartolome de Novaliches.

This church gained the notoriety of always coming up with fund raisers only to be gone as fast as an Advil Liquigel in your tummy!

Nothing wrong with fund raisers.  Many churches do that.  But not the INC fund raiser where if you don't give your money and promise unconditional obedience, they threaten you with hell and kidnap your family and throw grenades at you and stuff like that...

But is this the best place for the car?

San Bartolome de Novaliches is a big church and I have seen it many times that I visited that church.  There is a lot of space there where they could display the car.

If they can value a car like this, maybe they can do that for MUST SEE IMAGES in the church, no? Like an altar crucifix and more images?

I see more electric fans that images in that church.

PS:  Thanks to a new GULP member for these!

When you use the church as a social hall

So for some people, when you get the Blessed Sacrament out of the tabernacle, you do not touch the consecrated altar table, then you can use the entire church for whatever purpose you would want to use it.

Like for a masquerade ball.

You can party all you want!  That is according to this group who went ballistics in full fashion mouth frothing, ALL CAPS lunacy of the guy who made that famous. *wink*

For them, it is justified to use the house of worship as a place to party.

Yes, dear TPC readers. You read that right.

A Catholic group can find the justifciation to do that to a place reserved for the worship of God, for as long as you empty the Tabernacle and you don't mess around with the altar.

That is their concept of what the house of worship is.

Churches used to have this.

Here in the Philipppines, I always see this in San Fernando de Dilao Parish Church.

A Catholic cathedral, basilica, parish church, shrine, chapel or oratory is ALWAYS reserved and MEANT to be a place of worship and NOT for any kind of partying!

A justification from your parish priest does not JUSTIFY what you did to the House of God!



SHAME!

And their tirade cited a rant of the lunatic, walking blob of a pea brain.  Wow!  Call that scholarly. Teeeheee!!!

So, to that group, TPC readers are asking.............

Are you open for masquerade ball reservations?

Seems these people don't have any concept of sacred space anymore, no?

Maybe we can try this.

Maybe they are willing to have their own bedrooms rented out, well, we are not "desecrating" their rooms.

We are just using it for the meantime.

If they can go ballistics over this suggestion, maybe they can use that same energy to think how wrong it was to use the church for a party!

Expertise of the Filipino Freethinkers needed for this one

Since they are all about the BRAIN.

And since they are so very good about logic, science and mathematics.

Can you explain this?

Why that statue did not suffer any damage?

Why did that glass frame remained undamaged?

Let' see you use your brain for this one.