A
Life’s Adventure
I have spent my life persevering in seeking to
discover the truth, often in the midst of subtle but deep-seated
contradictions. Although born and raised a Catholic, it took me years
to dig out of the non-constructive, critical traditionalist mentality
of my parents. After finishing a BA in mathematics at UCLA (1974), I
followed my parents into a cult based on a false private apparition
at Necedah, Wisconsin (1980-1983). Only by the grace of God, after
about two and a half years in this cultic type environment, I began
to see the real situation into which my family and I had fallen into
(see http://necedah-cult.blogspot.com
and http://priv-rev.blogspot.com).
Although my parents and my sister and her husband, who she met in the
cult, left Necedah, they never had the chance to study and to
overcome the sectarian and elitist, schismatic traditionalist
mentality which is most often permeated by Jansenism as well as a
strong critical spirit toward the living authority of the Catholic
Church. While I went on to learn and study about the beauty and
wisdom of the documents of the Second Vatican Council as a religious
seminarian (see http://o-m-v.blogspot.com/),
as well as getting to know the profound spirituality and life of the
charisma of Unity (Chiara Lubich), my parents, sister and
brother-in-law were reading only extreme traditionalist books like
“The Devil’s Final Battle” by Father Paul Kramer which
ultimately led my sister and her husband and seven children to loose
the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church along with the many
recent gifts that the Holy Spirit constantly gives to his bride, the
Church, which are especially needed in these most difficult times. I
wrote an article trying to convince them to come back to the Catholic
Church but to no avail (see http://schis-trad.blogspot.com).
In a very confusing world, under the “tyranny of relativism”, I
believe in the words of Jesus Christ for each living Pope until the
end of time: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this Rock I
will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail
against it” (Mt 16:18). The Church is the handmaid of the Truth,
not the Author of the Truth. No true Pope can change the Truth
expressed in the doctrines of the Church, the Magisterium of the
Church.
The
Church on earth, the “Church Militant”, is made up of saints and
sinners and everything else in between; Christ founded His Church on
12 men who were sinners, not 12 angels from heaven. Those who seek a
“perfect” group on earth (like the Donatists of old) very often
end up in the cults and the sects. But if one discovers that one’s
cult is not “perfect”, one seeks another “perfect” sect
according to ones own making and criteria. If one does not have
enough humility to submit to the Church that Jesus Christ founded
with the living “Rock” that Jesus promised to guide until the end
of time, to whom does one submit? To himself? To the “perfect”
group that agrees with him or her? To a charismatic leader? Where is
our anchor, our “Rock”? Did Jesus abandon us and leave us without
an infallible guide 500 years ago with the protestant reformation, or
50 years ago after the Council, in a world filled with innumerable
opinions and propaganda? The saints tell us very clearly that without
humility there is no virtue! Jesus admonished his disciples: “Beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy!” (Lk 12:1)
After going through good as well as difficult
experiences with the religious congregation, the Oblates of the
Virgin Mary (http://o-m-v.blogspot.com/),
as well as suffering a lot (even serious depression) with groups and
people in the Church who did not learn from Jesus Who is “gentle
and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:29) (see
http://josephdwight.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/great-responsibility/),
I finally have been able to forgive these people totally from my
heart and thus I have found the peace that only Jesus, “the way,
the TRUTH and the life”, can give. I have slowly come to realize
that these humiliations and sufferings and sorrows are masked
treasures from a God who loves me immensely (see “Let Us Love Our
Spouse!” at
http://spir-food.blogspot.com/2008/05/let-us-love-our-spouse.html)
and Who offers to help us to become detached from everything except
Him Who is our only true and lasting Treasure.
I try ever more to love Jesus in each person that
I encounter in each present moment while praying, especially the
Rosary, as much as I can on my knees before the Most Blessed
Sacrament and reading daily good spiritual writings. I have learned
from the writings of the saints, including our saints of today, such
as Don Stefano Gobbi, or Chiara Lubich, that true love is inseparably
related to recognizing, embracing and loving Jesus crucified
personally in each and every suffering and sorrow within us and
outside of us in our daily lives; this is the source of TRUE FREEDOM
which only God can give. “A Manuscript On Purgatory” (see
http://purgatory-manu.blogspot.com)
really brings home the reality of how short life is and how long
eternity is as well as how much Jesus loves each of us! We have so
little time here on earth to arrive at a greater intensity of love of
Jesus who loves each of us immensely even to the point of suffering
and dying on the cross for each one of us personally!
The world is in pretty tough shape
(http://god-politics.blogspot.com/)
but God is always in charge even if He often takes the back seat and
allows Satan to have a lot of freedom, in particular in the last
hundred years or so, since we human beings have freely diminished our
prayers and have increased our sins, thus giving more power to the
forces of evil. I believe that one of the many gifts that God has
give us today to help us break out of the “tyranny of relativism”,
as Pope Benedict XVI puts it, is “The Testimony of Gloria Polo”
(http://testimony-polo.blogspot.com/).
For many years I have been interested in studying
prophecy especially as related to the current events of today; I have
posted a summary of some of my studies on this topic “Catholic
Prophecy Today” (http://markbeast.blogspot.com).
God
likes to crush the pride of the devil using His true and humble
followers who trust totally in Him; “Jesus, I trust in you” (St.
Faustina)! “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph”
(Fatima)! Alleluia!
Rev.
Joseph Dwight
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For
the most recent articles with insights into the new and devastating
deceptions of “the father of lies” (Gv8:44), as well as guidance
in these very confusing times, visit:
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The
following was part of my application to the Diocese of Orange,
California, 1990, to the vocation director, Father Murray.
Joseph
J. Dwight, Jr.
St.
Francis de Sales
4268
Lime St.
Riverside,
CA 92501
(714)
686-4004
May
31, 1990
Dear
Father Murray,
The
following is a brief resume of my life leading up to my request to be
considered as a candidate for the priesthood in the Orange diocese.
I
was born (11-21-51; Des Moines, Iowa) into a good practicing Catholic
family, the second child of six children. As a family, we never
missed Sunday Mass or monthly confessions and we all said the daily
family Rosary together. From my grade school years, my whole family
went to daily Mass and Holy Communion to the only Catholic Church in
our city (Barstow, California), six miles away (1). In High School, I
was an active member of the Junior Legion of Mary and was chosen as
the most outstanding student of my High School CCD graduating class
of about 50 students. I was also chosen by the public High School
faculty as the most outstanding boy of my graduating class. I also
graduated as the valedictorian of my High School graduating class of
about 275 students.
I
continued going to daily Mass and Holy Communion in college (UCLA;
1970-1975). I graduated from UCLA with a bachelors degree in
mathematics in 1974 as a departmental scholar. As a graduate student
at UCLA, I taught calculus and algebra as a teaching assistant in the
UCLA graduate mathematics department for one and a half years.
During
the summer of 1975 my father and mother ran across a supposed
on-going apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Necedah, Wisconsin. At
this time also my parents began seeking and reading right wing
political literature. All my life I had a great respect and trust of
my Dad's judgment. Thus when he told me about these discoveries,
backed up by much reading on the part of my Dad as well as seemingly
logical conclusions, I left UCLA after finishing my teaching
credential but before finishing my masters degree (2) to help my
parents expand their underground shelter that they had built in the
early sixties due to the Cuban crisis.
I
also bought an accordion and began taking lessons while practicing
two to three hours each day; I soon began playing frequently at
convalescent and retirement homes. After the shelter was mostly
finished in the summer of 1976, I began reading and praying more.
Later I joined the Legion of Mary and began spending at least two to
three hours each day with my sister going door to door asking people
to pray an extra hour each week to help fight abortion (3). My daily
routine was basically Mass, prayers and work in the morning,
accordion practicing in the afternoon as well as spiritual reading
and relaxing and watching TV in the late afternoons and evening.
Frequently I would help deliver Amway products to the Amway
distributors and customers of my parents (4). After reading the book,
‘True Devotion to Mary’, by Saint Louis de Montfort, I
consecrated myself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on August 15,
1976.
My
parents were almost continually reading the "Messages and
Revelations" from the supposed apparition at Necedah, Wisconsin.
There was a very natural, although naive, tendency to think that an
apparition is either totally true or totally false. Although we had
no background or study in private revelation, we had concluded that
the apparitions to the supposed visionary, Mary Ann Van Hoof at
Necedah, Wisconsin, were authentic and thus we naively concluded that
all "heavenly" messages from there were straight from the
mouth of the Mother of God or another "celestial". In a
real sense, these messages once accepted, became for us a type of
fundamental criteria of truth against which we tended to judge other
related things or even contrary opinions. We also tended to have a
preoccupation about the future and dates that were seemingly revealed
in these messages. This preoccupation tended to maintain our
enthusiasm and hope in these supposed messages.
Finally
when a seeming or apparent prediction of these messages did not
materialize in 1980, I decided to go back to Necedah, Wisconsin to
check it out as well as to look into a new third order Franciscan
community at Necedah. I discovered later that the Franciscan
community (called the 'Franciscan Friars of the Sacred Heart') was
founded (1979) by an Old Roman Catholic (Ultrajectine - Holland
origin) bishop (5) and priest (6). both of whom had left the
Franciscan Friars of the Holy Cross in the Midwest before taking
final vows about ten years before.
I
entered this seminary along with five or six other postulants in May
1980. At that time I did not understand about the non-canonical
orders of the Old Roman Catholics. I felt grateful to God for being
there and I applied myself to being a good religious.
During
the three years I was in this congregation, my superiors took several
trips to Rome meeting with Silvio Cardinal Oddi and other Vatican
officials to attempt to canonically establish the new congregation.
Up until February of 1983, Cardinal Oddi was very encouraging to us.
In February 1983, for the first time Cardinal Oddi, then the Prefect
of 'The Sacred Congregation For The Clergy', said "he could no
longer smile at our congregation" because we were not working
with the local ordinary of the La Cross diocese, Bishop Frederick
Freking.
Also
in late December, 1982, my superior, Francis DiBenedetto, who was
beginning to become somewhat exasperated by the cult pressure to
conform to what "heaven says", asked me to write something
to help explain to the more than 600 local members of the shrine (7)
the proper and prudent approach one should take regarding private
revelation and that private revelation was only part of a minor
charism of the whole Church, not vise versa.
About
the time my superiors came back from Rome in February, 1983, I also
discovered for the first time the written condemnation of the shrine
by the diocese of La Crosse in 1955 (Bishop Tracy) and later renewed
by Bishop Freking in the sixties. When I read in this censure that
no public worship was allowed on the shrine grounds, I left the new
Franciscan congregation and shrine and began going to Mass at the
Catholic parish in the town of Necedah while living with my sister
and her husband and child. I finished the written work (128 pages)
while living with my sister and brother-in-law which I entitled "The
Holy Catholic Church and Private Revelation". Five hundred
copies were distributed to over 600 local shrine members on May 31,
1983 by Francis DiBenedetto during his exhortation to the shrine
members to return and work with the lawful local ordinary of the La
Crosse diocese (8). During June and July of 1983 more than half of
the local shrine members returned to the local Catholic parish in the
town of Necedah.
After
returning to California in March of 1983, I applied to the
congregation, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, of which I had met an
Oblate priest at Necedah, Fr. Dan Zaleski, O.M.V., who often visited
his parents who were affiliated with the shrine at Necedah. I also
got a job in Barstow, California as a short order cook at a
restaurant (9).
I
found the congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary (10)
attractive to me because of the apparent devotion of its members to
the Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary and its fidelity to the
Pope and magisterium.
My
6-year experience in Italy (August 1983 - July 1989) with the Oblates
and the Italian people was a very enriching one. I found the Italian
people to be a very warm and family oriented people. It was also a
tremendous honor for me to have served several times on the high
altar in St. Peter's Basilica for the Pope in 1987-88. I also had
the opportunity of studying and receiving my bachelors degrees in
philosophy and theology (STB) at the Angelicum in Rome. I also
received both the minor orders of lector and acolyte (11).
Things
seemed to be going very well within my congregation. Then in June of
1988, Father Gino Burresi, OMV, a rather charismatic Oblate and
supposed stigmatist who had attracted hundreds of thousands of
pilgrims and many young vocations (both male and female) was sent
away from the large shrine at San Vittorino (near Tivoli, just
outside of Rome) which he instituted. The congregation was
profoundly, and most likely irrevocably, split in two. The novitiate
and final vows were suspended for everyone in Italy for one year by
the Pontifical Commissary, Fr. Marcel Gendrot, who replaced the
entire major governing body (the Rector Major and his four
consulters) of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary in January 1989. Then
in the summer of 1989, the American and Canadian Oblate seminarians
studying in Rome (over 20 in number) were transferred from Rome to
Boston. At this time, I was completing my sixth year with the
Oblates and my third year in temporary vows. After a short vacation
in California, I arrived in Boston in late September; my immediate
superior, Fr. TG, OMV (about 33 or 34 years old), who was still in
Italy at the time, arrived later in October. In the mean time, the
new house superior, Fr. DK., OMV (about 33 years old), was the
superior of us 20 Oblate seminarians who began attending St. John's
Theological Seminary in Boston in early September.
I
worked hard to help fix up our new house as computer, electrical, and
mechanical technician while supporting the younger seminarians and
attending several classes at St. John's seminary (12). Everything
seemed to be going fine. Then in late January, Fr. TG. told me that
I would not be accepted to final vows with the Oblates of the Virgin
Mary. It was a tremendous shock to me as well as to my fellow
Oblates in formation and I was given very little explanation. While
in Italy for six years, my superiors held me in their highest esteem
(13). A few days after Fr. TG told me of my dismissal, Fr. PG., OMV
(39 years old), the OMV delegate of North America, responded to me
during a private appointment: "I just found out about the
decision. I guess I should call Fr. TG to find out the reasons."
Both Fr. TG., OMV and Fr. PG., OMV said they would write good
letters of recommendation on my behalf for either another religious
congregation or a diocese (14).
My
spiritual director in Boston, Fr. Joseph O'Connor, S.J. (over 60
years old), very kindly set up a week retreat for me during this
difficult period for me in Boston. Fr. O'Connor also strongly feels
I have a vocation and was surprised at the procedures that the young
North American superiors used in dismissing me (15).
After
spending about two weeks at home in Barstow, California in mid
February with my parents and sister and brother-in-law and their four
children, I moved into the rectory of St. Francis de Sales Church at
the invitation of the pastor, Fr. Louis Marx, whom I have known for
over thirty years. Fr. Marx is truly an inspiration to me as an
exceptionally kind, generous and spiritual priest. I am presently
helping out here in the rectory and parish in many ways.
I
realize that being sent away from a religious congregation would not
seem to be to my credit. But I ask you to consider the whole picture
especially considering the great turmoil and division within the
Oblates of the Virgin Mary as well as the fact that all my superiors
in Italy for six years held me in their highest regard which can be
substantiated both in the official records as well as in other
communications.
I
would be very appreciative if you could give me an indication if you
feel I might be considered as a candidate for the priesthood in the
diocese of Orange.
Thank
you for your kind consideration.
Respectfully
yours in Christ,
Joseph
J. Dwight, Jr.
Footnotes:
(1)
We moved to California when I was five and a half years old when my
Dad left farming to become a school teacher.
(2)
My younger sister, Ann, also left San Diego State University for the
same reasons.
(3)
The spiritual director of the Legion of Mary at the time as well as
the associate pastor of the only Catholic Church in Barstow (Mount
Saint Joseph) since 1957 was Father Marion Coslowsky. Fr.
Coslowsky's present address and telephone number are: Our Lady of the
Desert Mission, P.O. Box 146, Baker, CA 92309; tel: (619) 733-4308.
(4)
My Dad had retired from teaching school and was no longer promoting
or building his Amway business.
(5)
Francis DiBenedetto.
(6)
Kevin Fitzgerald.
(7)
The shrine maintained a mailing list at that time of over 16,000
which helped support several large building projects in progress
which were supposedly requested by the "messages". The
labor was all done rather enthusiastically by the local shrine
members.
(8)
At this time also the new Franciscan congregation was dismantled
after responsibilities such as with the newly initiated private
school were completed.
(9)
I worked almost every summer during college as a short order cook to
support myself through college.
(10)
The Oblates of the Virgin Mary were founded by Fr. Bruno Lanteri in
1826 with the principle apostolate of giving the Ignatian exercises.
The first American Oblate was ordained less than 15 years ago. In
the late sixties, it was discussed at a general chapter of the Oblate
congregation about the possibility of merging the Oblates with
another congregation due to lack of vocations. Then, through the
instrumentality of a certain Brother Gino Burresi, O.M.V., vocations
began to enter the congregation in the early seventies. Today there
are over 150 perpetually professed members in the entire
congregation.
Fr.
Robert Fox (N. Dakota), associated with the Blue Army (and with the
Soul Magazine, at least formerly), wrote a book about Fr. Gino called
'The Call of Heaven - Brother Gino, Stigmatist'; the book became
rather popular and a second edition was published during the summer
of 1988.
(11)
At the request of many friends at Necedah, I visited Necedah during
the summer of 1985. During this two-day stay, I visited and
telephoned many friends who were still affiliated with the shrine
urging them to break off all affiliation with the shrine. I also
became good friends with the new pastor at Necedah, Fr. Michael
Mertens, who thanked me personally for my efforts to lead back many
people to his parish. Fr. Mertens, the former Vicar of the diocese
of La Crosse, also asked me several times to come to Necedah to
celebrate my first Mass after I was ordained an Oblate priest. Fr.
Mertens' present address and telephone number are: St. Francis
Parish, Star Rt. W. Box 526, Necedah, Wisconsin 54646; tel: (608)
565-2488.
(12)
The Oblates also received financial support each year on my behalf
($750-800) from the Knights of Columbus in Barstow, California. I am
presently an active Third Degree Knight of Columbus of the Barstow
chapter.
(13)
As an indication of this, see the enclosed letter from Fr. Patrice
Veraquin, OMV, my superior in Rome for my last three years in Italy
(September 1986 - July 1989), describing his reaction to me
personally regarding my sudden dismissal.
Fr.
Patrice's address and phone number are: Istituto Lanteri, Via S.
Michele, 50, 56100 PISA (Italy); tel (dialing direct from the USA):
011-39-50-570-078. Fr. Patrice speaks fluent English.
My
assistant superior for my first three years in Italy was Father Guy
Symard, O.M.V., (he also speaks English fluently) who now resides at:
Maison du Pardon, 10475 Boulevard Becancour, Sainte-Angele-de-Laval,
Cte Nicolet, Que., GOX 2HO - CANADA; tel: (819) 222-5608.
(14)
Fr. TG., OMV wrote the following on a card given to me on February
10, 1990, the day I left Boston (see enclosures for a photo copy of
the original): "Joe: I thank you for all that you have brought
to the community, and the generosity and sincerity you have always
shown. I am sure that the Lord holds good things in store for you.
You remain in my thoughts and prayers. Fr. TG, OMV"
Fr.
DK. wrote the following to me in a letter postmarked February 10,
1990 (copy enclosed): "Dear Joe, Thank you so much for all you
have done for me and the community. You certainly worked hard to
help set up the house. We all appreciate your generous and fraternal
help. I will always hold you in the highest esteem for all you have
done for us and for who you are as a person. May the Lord continue
to work in and through you as you continue to follow his call. With
love affection and prayers, Fr. DK".
Fr.
DK's and Fr. TG's address and phone number are: 85 Brown Ave.,
Roslindale, MA 02131; tel: (617) 323-8660.
(15)
Fr. Joseph O'Connor's address and phone number are: 28 Commonwealth
Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA 02167; tel: (617) 332-1105.
My
confessor and pastoral professor of counseling in Boston was Fr.
Robert Maguire, S.J. who is in residence at Sacred Heart Parish: 169
Cummins Highway, Roslindale, MA 02131; tel: (617) 325-3322.
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To see the photographs of “The Life of Joseph Dwight”, go to:
http://picasaweb.google.it/josephdwight57/TheLifeOfJosephDwight# .
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The photo is of Joseph Dwight shaking hands with Chiara Lubich, the foundress of the Focolare Movement. The photo was taken on the 11th of May, 1995 at Loppiano in Incisa Valdarno, Italy, 15 miles south of Florence.
Venerable Pio Bruno Lanteri
