THESE FRANCISCANS NEED TO BE CORRECTED

It is necessary for the good of souls and the good of the Church that religious orders be true to their founding charisms, the primary one being to "teach all nations" as Jesus Christ commanded of his followers.  When they deviate from this clear path it is necessary for Rome to step in to make the necessary corrections.  We know that right now the Franciscans and their correction are very much on the minds of those in Rome so I offer as a case in point, the Franciscans of......

.....Milwaukee.

We note from the parish bulletin of St Francis of Assisi Parish in Milwaukee that the Franciscans who administer the parish had on the 28th of December a celebration of something called "Kwaanza" (or "Kwanzaa" or "Kwaanzaa" or however the idiotic thing is spelled).  I was under the apparently mistaken impression that December 28th was the Third Day of Christmas and that it should have been honored as such.  We leap to the conclusion that these Franciscans find it more compelling to honor some ridiculous created-out-of-thin-air "festival" than to continue the honoring of the Divine Infancy.

I am at a loss to understand how participating in such nonsense will help parishioners better understand and live the Catholic Faith.  I am  reasonably certain that if I inquired I would hear a whole litany of maudlin excuses and vomitous claptrap from the parish about the needs of responding to local cultures, etc., etc., etc. One can hope that the pastor of the Church has a good heart at least; but it is evident that he is sorely lacking in a proper formation.  He cannot be totally blamed for failing to pass along something he was never taught.

Reading this parish bulletin is not for the faint of heart, for in addition to the above silliness we note that the parish offers a Gospel Music Workshop. Good Lord, can you imagine what that's like?  I shudder to think of how awful their regular Masses must be. So what is in fact happening is that instead of teaching local pagans the truths of the Faith the Faithful at St Francis parish are absorbing the culture and beliefs of the local pagans.  This is always the inevitable result of "inculturation" anyway, whether it happens in Bombay or Milwaukee.

Thus far the Franciscans in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee under Jerome Listecki go on their merry way with their foot-stomping, hallelujah-shouting, fried chicken-chomping celebrations of a "holiday" the likes of which having somehow escaped the notice of historians for seven millenia.  Along this happy hand-clapping way the message of Christ, not to mention that of St. Francis of Assisi, has somehow been lost in the fog.  Strangely, as of now, Rome has not swooped down on them like a vulture as they are wont to do with other Franciscans.

Perhaps the Vatican, so concerned by Franciscans just now, could explain.