|
1 February 2004
"I, for My part, today will make you into a fortified city, a pillar of
iron, and a wall of bronze" (Jeremiah).
My superior, Fr. William Casey of the Fathers of Mercy, once said that
to be a priest today in the secular west is like being a traffic cop at
the Indianapolis 500. No one seems to be listening to the directions of
Holy Mother Church. In fact if one seeks to resist or to stand in the way,
one could easily get run over. The world seems to be turning up the heat
against Christ and His Holy Church. A recent novel, namely The Da Vinci
Code is filled with falsehoods regarding our dear Lord and His
Mystical Body. The Da Vinci Code, which questions the perfect
chastity of Christ, has sold more that four million copies in hardback
making it one of the most popular books in publishing history. No telling
how many more will come into contact with such spiritual poison when it
goes paper back? Despite its suspect sources, the novel is seen as popular
history and its pernicious and salacious allegations are seen as Gospel
truth to the unsuspecting. Combine this attack with the continued assault
on the memory of Pope Pius XII and one can quickly determine that the
gloves are off. Many so called scholars looking to sell copy call this
pontiff, Hitler's pope. This amazing charge, even though the State of
Israel named Pius XII a most righteous Gentile for his work in saving the
Jews. And as for the Entertainment Industry and its treatment of Christ
and the Church, I won't even go there.
Perhaps the hierarchy and other members of the Church did not see the
all out attack
coming. Bl. John XXIII, of holy memory,
wished to appeal to a world so wounded after two world wars. Perhaps good
Pope John, having read the signs of the times, desired to end the standoff
between the world and the Church. To change the fortress mentality, if you
will, to one of openness and dialogue
— to
open the windows
— to
let in fresh air. And yet, cold and violent gusts of air soon came pouring
into the Church. Pope Paul VI, having assumed the Papacy before the close
of II Vatican, noted that some had taken this new opening to the world to
an extreme. The pontiff stated, "the opening up to the world has become a
veritable invasion of worldly thinking." In addition, Paul VI used that
famous phrase oft repeated, viz. "the smoke of Satan has entered into the
sanctuary."
In an effort to heal mankind, it was decided to come out of the
fortress of the Church and negotiate, to talk, to dialogue with the world.
To adopt, if you will, the Areopagus model used by St. Paul at
Athens. Not so much instructing the people, but entering into dialogue.
One Roman Catholic Cardinal put the new model, the new strategy in the
following way:
"Dialogue puts the partners on an equal footing. The Catholic is not
considered as possessing all the truth, but as someone who has the faith
and is looking for the truth with others, both believers and unbelievers."
But if you think that the secular powers are interested in an exchange
of ideas, I think you put yourself in an Ivory Tower. Just think about it
this way. A 100% Pro-Life Roman Catholic, who speaks out against the
contraceptive mentality, is for all practical purposes unelectable on the
national stage. Such an individual might wish to be on the Supreme Court,
but his name would not even be brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Many secular powers are not so open it seems to the dialogue. In fact, the
spirit of the world has its own monologue going on and it speaks the word
of death, promoting a culture of death. And you know as well as I do that
the spirit of the world is not looking for common ground, rather it is
looking to take further ground in a cultural war. Unfortunately,
certain members of the hierarchy seem to be following the lead of the
world's monologue. A German Cardinal recently chided President Bush for
mentioning God in public: "invoking God in public," the Cardinal stated,
"is not acceptable anymore in today's world." I guess God is not part of
the dialogue. You see, instead of being a leaven in the world, a catalyst
in bringing this world to Christ, many Catholics, by enlarge, have become
an ingredient.
I realize that as a creation of God the world is good. And as a theater
of Redemption, the world is to be loved. But the spirit of the world, that
spirit which cannot accept the Spirit of Truth, is our sworn enemy and
there is no common ground, no negotiating with such an enemy. I would
suggest, perhaps boldly, that we leave the Areopagus as St. Paul
did. We should leave the ivory tower and return to the fortress
— to
the fortified city, the pillar of iron, and the walls of bronze.
The Holy Roman Catholic Church is Mater et Magistra
—
mother and teacher. Mothers do not dialogue with children, but rather
lovingly serve their children by instructing them, caring for them, and
yes even admonishing and correcting them if necessary. And I believe that
things are beginning to change direction. The Church is ever more
confrontational in recent months. Consider, for example, Archbishop
Raymond Burke, who challenged pro-abortion Catholics to convert or be
denied Holy Communion. Other bishops are following the lead of this true
spiritual general. Cardinal Arinze, in charge of the sacred congregation
dealing with Divine Worship and the Sacraments, is also firing his own
salvos. At Georgetown University he defended the Divine institution of
marriage and condemned adultery, cohabitation, and homosexuality. There
wasn't much dialogue, but rather there was preaching and teaching.
Whether we realize it or not, the Church is not of this world. She is
an alien, a foreigner, for her true native land is above. And so the
Church is in hostile territory on this earth. She is an outpost
— a
house of refuge
— a
spiritual Fort Apache. And if you deny this, then so much for the
title, the Church Militant. As we return more to the strategy of
confrontation and challenge, know that we will need Holy Mother Church
more than ever. She is a fortified city, a pillar of iron and truth,
and a wall of bronze. We will find protection and provisions in her to
endure this valley of tears.
Catholic churches are built to last, with strong foundations. They are
not put up like barns, neither are they prefab, but they are built to
last. The world knows this. Catholic church buildings are built as
fortresses strongly defended outposts in hostile territory. Note that this
very shrine, the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, is a concrete image
of what the Church is to be. Like the Catholic Faith it is fortified, made
of stone, strong. It will not blow over. And an immovable Cross stands
atop of the shrine, not a weathervane that constantly adjusts to the
winds of public opinion. Strong pillars, columns anchor things in
place here, giving us hope and allowing us to look upwards to our end.
Finally, the walls of bronze
—
those giant, beautiful doors that manifest the love and charity present in
our Mother. They open for her children and yet block the enemy.
St. Theresa of Avila, the great Carmelite mystic, doctor, and reformer
once said, "one man and God make an army." This statement is especially
shown in Christ, Who is both God and man. And yet, for those who enter
into this house of refuge, into this outpost of the shrine, to recuperate
from the battles, they are made into instruments of the Most High. They
become one-man armies, like Jeremiah, called to confront and resist the
spirit of the world.
|
