Shepherds are not wolves.
St. Paul tells us in Acts 20:28-29 that wolves will enter the Church.
Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. I know that, after my departure, ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
St. Paul was echoing the words of Our Lord: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matt. 7:15-16)”
Haydock wrote in his bible commentary:
Beware of false prophets, or heretics. They are far more dangerous than the Jews, who being rejected by the apostles, are also avoided by Christians, but these having the appearance of Christianity, having churches, sacraments, &c. &c. deceive many. These are the rapacious wolves, of whom S. Paul speaks, Acts xx. Chry. hom. xix. Origen styles them, the gates of death, and the path to hell. Com. in Job. lib. i. Tom. 2. [1]
False prophets are heretics who appear to be Christians with churches, sacraments, etc. These are the wolves in sheep’s clothing, and according to St. Paul, they appear to be Catholic bishops or shepherds. Cornelius a Lapide wrote in his bible commentary about the bad fruit as “1. Of false doctrine; 2. Of bad morals and wickedness. Luther and Calvin have given examples in this age.”[2]
Christ is the Good Shepherd. He would not leave wolves to watch His sheep. The pope is the shepherd and true teacher of Christ’s flock. The bishops and priests are also teachers and shepherds. The Church might have bad teachers and poor shepherds but they can’t be false teachers. Since wolves are not shepherds, the pope, bishops, and priests can’t be wolves in sheep’s clothing. The wolves can only appear to be popes, bishops, and priests of Christ’s Church. They enter the Church in appearance only. Christ commands us to judge their acts and judge and beware of them.
Footnotes:
[1] The Haydock Bible. Matthew 7:15.
[2] THE GREAT BIBLICAL COMMENTARY OF CORNELIUS À LAPIDE
Today, we have many wolves right here, supporting the likes of the US Democratic party, with all the evils they espouse and practice and pressure others to. These bishops and their ilk mislead and misinform their flocks to their utter destruction. We must stay on watch more so today than most other times in history.
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Wolfs that self identify as sheep are not sheep
Men that self identify as women are not women
Apostates self identifying as popes are not popes.
I pray for you Mr. Speray, that you would draw as much spiritual fruit as you can during the days coming to Us. God Bless You
Yes! Thank you! Dark days but Our Lord will draw greater glory from the evils of today. It’s all in His Hands.
Hey Mr. Speray,
Thank you for the post. I always enjoy coming to you site to read your articles. I honestly feel I learn something new each time I read an article. I have a quick question. I am new to sedevacantism, and I am thoroughly convinced it is the correct Catholic position to this current crisis. However I just stumbled on a video from Jimmy Akin at Catholic Answers. Can you kindly refute his arguments against sedevacantism or if you already have can you point me to those articles. I past the link to the video. Thanks again and God Bless!
Thank you! Jimmy Akin first misrepresents apostasy. He said heretics are not apostates, but Pope Pope Leo XIII taught in Satis Cognitum (# 9), June 29, 1896: “…But he who dissents even in one point from divinely revealed truth absolutely rejects ALL FAITH, since he thereby refuses to honor God as the supreme truth and the formal motive of faith.” That’s apostasy! Akin’s religion rejects divinely revealed truth. Therefore, his fake Catholic religion is apostate.
He says his religion is growing. That proves, not disproves, there’s a great apostasy happening. He was right that the true Church should be shrinking and it is. The true Catholic Church is a small remnant now.
He said sedes don’t understand development of doctrine. He doesn’t understand it. Development doesn’t mean it can be reversed. Reversal of doctrine is how his religion has developed doctrine. There is legitimate development of doctrine, but his religion is changing it into another doctrine. They have another gospel altogether, now. Case in point: https://stevensperay.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/jimmy-akin-patrick-madrid-and-christopher-ferrara-in-the-same-boat-of-stupid/
I deal with the Gates of hell argument here: https://stevensperay.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/the-gates-of-hell-and-sedevacantism/
Akin implied that since bishops are guided by God, that means that won’t betray Him or the Church and the most bishops will do the right thing but see Vatican I’s Card. Manning say something different: “Then the Church shall be scattered, driven into the wilderness, and shall be for a time, as it was in the beginning, invisible hidden in catacombs, in dens, in mountains, in lurking places; for a time it shall be swept, as it were from the face of the earth. Such is the universal testimony of the Fathers of the early Church.” Manning continues, “The apostasy of the city of Rome from the vicar of Christ and its destruction by Antichrist may be thoughts so new to many Catholics, that I think it well to recite the text of theologians of greatest repute. First Malvenda, who writes expressly on the subject, states as the opinion of Ribera, Gaspar Melus, Biegas, Suarrez, Bellarmine and Bosius that Rome shall apostatize from the faith, drive away the Vicar of Christ and return to its ancient paganism.”
Akin said we are paranoid and delusional. Some of us are. Lol. However, he’s not being honest about the issues. See the following letter I wrote him almost 8 years ago, which he never replied: https://stevensperay.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/open-letter-to-jimmy-akin-of-catholic-answers/
I hope this helps! Let me know. Godspeed!