“Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.” (Ephesians 6:10-13)
Catholics are gutless. Yes, that’s what I said. Too many Catholics do not believe we are engaged in a war. It is a war with the secular world of whom Satan is the ruler (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). From top to bottom we are afraid to speak out. We make excuses. It isn’t pastoral, “who am I to judge?”, everyone is invited in but not a word about repentance, and even that “we need to change attitudes” in order to change doctrine. I thought attitudes were related to feelings while doctrine is related to Truth. And truth, like God, doesn’t change. “For I, the Lord, do not change …” (Malachi 3:6)
This war has been made manifest in our time by the number of attacks on the Catholic faith (from within and without), on Catholics, and on Catholic churches here in the U.S. and around the world.
And truth is a person, Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6) Psychologists say that people want the truth. But what they really want is their truth, the truth that soothes them and makes them feel good or justified. The spirit of relativism that persists tells them that they can each have their own truth. But that denies the fact that there are absolute truths. Thus they argue about the number of sexes, their own gender, when life begins, the humanity or personage of a fetus (child) in the womb, etc., even though science tells them the truth.
But our calling is to have courage, to speak out, to be bold. St. Paul told Timothy, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord …” (2 Timothy 1:7-8) In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul says, “I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.” I prefer the RSV translation, “I can do all things in Him Who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
And, in the Old Testament, David, as he was dying, told his son, Solomon who was to succeed him as king, “Be strong and be a man!” (1 Kings 2:2)
In the Beatitudes, Jesus says “Blessed are the meek.” Many interpret this to mean we should be carpets and let people walk over us. If he were telling us to be milquetoasts, He wouldn’t have said “turn the other cheek,” He would have said turn and run away. But Jesus is talking about humility. From the devil on down He didn’t let people dominate Him, He stood up to all of them, ultimately giving Himself up willingly as a sacrifice for our sins. You can be humble and still be strong.
Again referring to St. Paul, “Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Christ provides the strength we need if we depend on Him. Neither did Paul run away. He persisted in the face of mobs and violence, even to the point of being stoned and left for dead.
While some of those who are the successors to the apostles are some of the biggest offenders, so also too many in the pews are lacking courage. Oh, but we know how to complain if Mass takes one minute longer than the hour and fifteen minutes we feel obliged to give God. Recently many members of a parish in Denver, Colorado complained to their bishop because their pastor had inserted some “fire and brimstone” into his homilies, and it was affecting their “psychological safety.”
Bishops are supposed to model themselves after Jesus the Good Shepherd (Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 896). Yet they become milquetoasts when it comes to calling out “Catholic” politicians promoting intrinsic evils and acts of grave depravity (see CCC 2272, 2357). But Jesus was not afraid to challenge people. He did not hesitate to call out sin when He confronted it. We have a duty to call out sin, to admonish the sinner. It is one of the spiritual works of mercy (see Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church) as are instructing the ignorant and counseling the doubtful.
This pusillanimous attitude is even reflected in the Mass readings. Frequently references to hell and judgment are given the option of being left out (e.g., in a “shorter” version) of the readings or not even there in the first place. Take, for example, the gospel readings for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary time for Year A (Matthew 13:44-50). The whole gospel reading covers three topics, the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price, and the net of good and bad fish. The first two topics are positive – heaven is an unequaled prize for which we should give up everything else. The third topic compares fishermen separating the good fish from the bad to the angels at the end of the age. “The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” The third topic, talking about judgment and hell, is given the option to be omitted for a “shorter version.”
And, of course, if the Mass readings are timid, then most of the homilies will be also. When was the last time you heard a homily on the four last things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell)? Surprisingly, one of our priests had that in his homily recently. But he was from Africa.
We seek a love and a peace on our terms, not God’s. We think the world is the source of love and peace when in reality God is the source of everything. Despite the arguments of atheists, socialists, communists, and even John Lennon (“Imagine”), the world will never be the source of love and peace but always the source of chaos and division.
The recent appointment of a woman as Archbishop of Canterbury highlights a growing rift between Catholic and Protestant relationships. Our Church leaders should be careful in dealings with such people. Beyond the fact she is a woman (which is contrary to Judeo-Christian theology – women cannot be priests) she stands opposed to many Catholic (and what should be Christian) ideals. She is pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ. This is part of the continued assault on Jesus and His Church. A close examination of biblical teachings (Old and New Testament) and the development of faith and worship (Magisterium) shows it to be true. By contortions of word and practice they try to justify to the uninformed their travel down the broad path to perdition while claiming to be following Jesus.
This Modernistic approach that has infiltrated the Church started with the Protestant heresy going back to Martin Luther. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others all opened the door to personal interpretations of Scripture while also ignoring Sacred Tradition, thus invalidating the continuum of development of the body of the faith of the fifteen hundred preceding years.
The “spirit” of “coexistence,” the new “Modernism,” can be seen at the highest levels. Pope Francis touted an “ecumenism of life” which focused on coexistence and was often seen as favoring “indifferentism,” or the idea that one religion was as good as any other. Of course, seeing all religions as relatively equal is like everyone getting a participation trophy, which is meaningless.
So what does this mean for those of us in the pews? “Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious.” (Bishop Fulton J. Sheen) “Lay believers are in the front line of Church life” (CCC 899). We are the Church Militant, not the Church Cowardly.
Obviously we, the laity, have a challenge. Pope St. Paul VI issued a document from Vatican II called, APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM (AA), or Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity. By virtue of our baptism, we are all members of this Apostolate. In line with the words of Bishop Sheen, it notes “… there arise for each believer the right and duty to use them in the Church and in the world for the good of men and the building up of the Church, in the freedom of the Holy Spirit who ‘breathes where He wills’ (John 3:8).”
It further states, “Bishops, pastors of parishes, and other priests of both branches of the clergy … should work fraternally with the laity in and for the Church and take special care of the lay persons in these apostolic works.” (AA 25)
Unfortunately, today, many bishops discount or even ignore the requests and concerns of the laity within their dioceses. The most obvious recent cases being the suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass and the accommodation of pro-abortion “Catholic” politicians even to the point of giving them awards in opposition to diocesan and USCCB policies.
Similarly, article 907 of the Catechism states, quoting Canon Law, “’In accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, [lay people] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, …’” (CIC, canon 212, 3) Similarly, other articles of the Catechism delineate our responsibilities as members of the Church living in the secular world. (See also CCC 898, 899, 900, 905, et al.)
Unsurprisingly we have very many lukewarm “cafeteria” Catholics. We aren’t being strengthened by the bible selections or by “nice” homilies. “A big, lukewarm Church attracts nobody; it converts no one.” (Francis X. Maier, True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church) The men in our parishes need to step up, be men. “Our culture now aggressively undermines the identity of women, but men even more so. It strips away the reasons why men should be strong and unselfish and courageous. It’s very much a work of the devil and a matter of spiritual warfare, because it attacks the nature of who and what human beings are, and why we’re here.”
God may be choosing you to be His emissary among these heathens. Don’t feel up to the task? St. Faustina, in her diary noted: “God usually chooses the weakest and simplest souls as tools for His greatest works; that we can see that this is an undeniable truth when we look at the men He chose to be His apostles; or again, when we look at the history of the Church and see what great works were done by souls that were the least capable of accomplishing them; for it is just in this way that God’s works are revealed for what they are, the works of God.” There’s a reason that the statement at the bottom of the Divine Mercy pictures says, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Trust in God, ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide you. Besides, no on respects a coward.
“We have made men proud of most vices, but not of cowardice.” (C.S. Lewis, via Screwtape)
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