Faith
Counterfeit Sacrament
It’s been quite the comedown from the moral clarity of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict. John Paul stood up to the evils of the communist system and ignited a rediscovery of the beauty and holiness of the human body. Benedict, both as a bishop and then as pope, wielded the sword of truth and the intellectual strength of the Church to destroy the falsehoods that press in on us. They weren’t perfect, and they made many mistakes. Still, they endeavored to ensure that their every word and action was used for the edification of the Church and the salvation of souls.
Then, there’s Francis.
Centuries ago, St. Francis heard the voice of God and rebuilt by hand the Church of San Damiano. Then, he formed a religious institution that began a much-needed renewal of the Church. Today, Pope Francis works ardently to undo his namesake’s good work.
In the 1960s, medical technology openly began to falsely promise that it could provide reliable contraception. The World gave an inch, and libertine society took a mile. Contraception promised that you could control your creative powers with no effort, no thought, no discipline, and no self-control. It promised freedom, control, and bliss; what we got was absolute misery and total dysfunction. Contraceptives are the only application of medicine wherein the sole intent is to disable an otherwise healthy and functioning system. The society of selfishness, hatred, and violence that contraceptives built was predicted by Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae, to a point.
The libertine society returned soon thereafter to open a new front on marriage. Two decades ago, they promised that they just wanted legal protections for irregular relationships. The World gave an inch, another mile was taken. Marriage, to the common man, now means nothing. Marriages are entered and exited with little thought, discernment, or seriousness. This is a dangerous development because the family is the basic unit of society; without the family, society collapses.
Today, in the midst of the smoke, fog, and confusion around marriage comes Francis, shrouded in the authority of his office, wearing the distinctive white robe of the papacy, to place a bomb right in the middle of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
The Church has many expressions of faith, but only seven sacraments. These are outward signs, instituted by Christ, to give grace. Six of the Sacraments are celebrated by an ordained priest or deacon. Holy Matrimony is the only one in which the laity are the celebrants. When a man and woman come together at the altar to make their mutual promises and seal their covenant, they confer the sacrament on one another; the priest’s role is solely to witness and bless the marriage.
The Catholic Church recognizes the human person as God’s greatest creation. Intrinsically included in that recognition is the beauty and sanctity of the human body. God granted us a share in His creative powers through our ability to procreate. It’s from this understanding that the Church can recognize when use of our creative powers is good and holy, and when it is wrong. Human sexuality is an essential good inside of marriage because it binds the couple together and, when physiological circumstances are correct, leads to the loving creation of new life. Our creative powers can be studied, observed, and mastered. Indeed, we’re called to be stewards of our creative powers, exercising them judiciously for the greater good.
Sexual activity outside of marriage is always wrong because it contradicts the design and intent of our creative powers. When used outside of marriage, it’s no longer an authentic loving and giving expression, but rather it seeks to serve only itself.
Francis’ new guidelines are a logical fallacy. Though he claims to do them out of pastoral concern, he focuses only on blessing the relationships of same-sex couples. What about cohabitating couples? What about polyamorous relationships? What about polygamous relationships? What about sexual relationships between adults and children? After all, these relationships may too, to quote Cardinal Fernandez in Francis’ guidelines, “desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and of truth.” Not so pastoral after all.
The truth is, what Francis and his band of tinkerers have done is institute a blessing that cannot be given. They’ve created a counterfeit sacrament. It looks like a marriage, it sounds like a marriage, but it isn’t one. They offer to the world what they cannot give; they promise what they cannot fulfill.
Although they stress the blessings of irregular relationships can only be granted if it’s clear that it’s not a marriage blessing, this is a true distinction without a difference. Francis is not oblivious to the lack of moral, logical, and philosophical education in the world today. He knows precisely how this will be received and interpreted by the vast majority of Catholics who can barely rouse themselves to make it to Mass twice a year. Worse still, how those who have not had the benefit of a Catholic education will receive this news.
In the face of reality, Francis presses forward with his intellectual pogrom. Any bishop or cardinal who dares speak out against this falseness is dismissed from their office and evicted from their home.
The Church exists to ensure the salvation of souls; that is its mission. It stores up grace, guarantees apostolic succession, provides the faithful with validly ordained priests, and assures access to the Sacraments. Its unwavering positions on faith and morals are not some obstinate adhesion to an outmoded and outdated way of thinking. Rather, it’s the culmination of 2,000 years of deeply thinking about and clarifying a basic set of principles. For those of us on earth, the Church is the lighthouse guiding us away from the cliffs and into the safe harbor.
What Francis proposes, as he willfully continues on his campaign of moral confusion, is to set the lighthouse adrift, where it can blink and float wherever the current takes it. The problem is that a lighthouse afloat helps no one. Many, many will be lost to the cliffs as a direct result of the words and actions of this papacy.
Yet, each time Francis pulls out his sledgehammer to destroy another cleric or another part of the Magisterium, irony abounds. This latest pronouncement comes near the end of Advent. A great star has risen. The people who walk, and live, in darkness have seen a great light. A savior is born, the great I AM, the king of kings, and He is the way, the truth, and the life. While we await the arrival of the bridegroom, we must continue to speak with the moral clarity that even the pope himself cannot seem to find.
This is wrong.
Aslan’s Roar
The Chronicles of Narnia are legendary in their own right, a series of books worthy of sparking the imagination of any young reader. As noted before on this blog, they also make for a profound spiritual experience reading them as educated adults.
CS Lewis masterfully translated the genius and mystery of God into a story that is so relatable and comprehensible. It’s a story filled with beautiful imagery, like Aslan strolling across the vast darkness, singing the world into existence through beautiful melody.
Throughout the series, we see Aslan close at hand and seemingly far off. The forces of good and evil are in a constant struggle, at various times each gaining the upper hand. When the children are drawn back to Narnia in Prince Caspian after just one year away in England, they stumble into the ruins of their ancient castle. The story of their existence disputed as fanciful nursery tales.
Whenever the forces of evil are on the march, and victory in their grasp, Aslan always returns in great glory. With a single roar, he marks a return to reality as the force of his voice destroys all who oppose him.
Lewis took the time, in each story, to explore the different dynamics of Christology, from Genesis to Revelation. We see him creating the world and, in his absolute power, crushing evil. The truth in this power is that, though we see evil on the march in our time, and injustice abound, Christ is never far off, ready to herald in a return to reality, the world in which He has already conquered death and reigns supreme.
It’s an honor and a privilege to be counted among Christ’s followers, a side that, though always purportedly on the verge of total defeat, instead exists in the reality in which total victory is already achieved.
Moment of Conversion
Life is a series of checkpoints, moments along the path that lead us to our final destination. In our Christian life, many of these checkpoints are moments of conversion. The culmination of perseverance and hard work, winter breaks, and you experience that fresh, new spring.
These moments are profound times of spiritual insight. We get a taste of the reality we were designed to exist in. Our understanding of our faith, and the wisdom of loving God’s law, is crystal clear. Temptation bounces off us, and an effervescence permeates all aspects of our day.
Those they may be fleeting, grabbing hold of these turning points is critical. We are large ships, and turning is never easy. Incremental progress is the tried and true way to success. Although we may get down the path and lose sight of these lampposts, they remain touchpoints that we always return to. For in these moments, these short periods of time, we live as who we were made to be.
Foretaste
Although easily forgotten in the midst of this week’s kickoff of the end-of-year holidays, the intent of Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day is to remind us of our mortality. Nearing the end of the liturgical year, the Sunday readings focus on eschatology, or the end times. Throughout the Bible, and in the ministry of Jesus, the fact that our time on Earth is transitional is never hidden. We are all walking on pilgrimage, with judgement assured when our journey meets its logical end.
Though it may seem foreboding, reaching the end of that journey should be cause for joy and hope. Our lives are filled with difficulties, sadness, and sufferings that God never intended. It was only through the entrance of sin into our world, and our complicity with it, that these sorrows have befallen us. Still, although sin and sadness are real, we can choose even today to live as God intended. We can love God’s commandments and experience a wholesome, fulfilling and joyful life as the saints have shown us.
Though true, this is all a bit academic. Time ticks away slowly, and it’s hard to keep the mind focused on an eternity of peace and exuberance. This is especially true when the kids have been fighting all day, you still have to put together a grocery order, the cars need to be waxed, and you have a major project due in two days. God designed every facet of our bodies with great purpose and intent, and He understands the challenge of focusing the mind in the midst of stress and a to-do list pouring off the page.
It’s one of the reasons we go to Mass every week. Not only do we need the rejuvenation and the break, but we need reminders of our future at regular intervals. Why do we not lie, cheat, and steal as others do? Because this peace, this calm, this celebration is what we were created for. It’s the great foretaste of what is to come, if only we run the race and win.
Life is not easy, and in moments of stress, exhaustion, and temptation, failure is the path of least resistance when we lose sight of where we’re aiming. There’s a forever of calm and peace waiting for us if only we choose it.
Scriptural Confession
I went to confession last weekend for the first time in many months. I try to go every other week, but things have been crazy busy. The priest was a visitor, whom I’d never met before. In our conversation, he quoted an obscure Bible verse, Malachi 3:8.
Thanks to my completion of the Bible in a Year last year, I immediately had context. After finishing my penance, I pulled out my Bible, and read the whole chapter.
What’s always incredible about the Bible is how timeless it is. It’s a story, a history, of a nation of people who are just like us. I may have better technology and living standards than they did, but I make the same mistakes.
Despite my failings, God always reminds me of the unfathomable depths of His mercy, greater than any sin I may commit. And if I doubt, I can read the words He spoke to the prophet Malachi thousands of years ago and half a world away, as if He spoke them just for me, “…put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.”
Five Minutes
Spirituality is a major component of what it means to be human. We have a connection with our Creator that is far more personal and intimate than any other in the created world. The main channel of building and developing this relationship is through our prayer life. As with all things in life, it ebbs and flows, and it becomes far too easy to let ourselves get in the way.
A prayer life is the cumulative efforts that we make to spend time with God. But prayer is far more simple. If you have five minutes to be quiet, to be still, and to raise your mind to God, that’s all you need.
Building anything great happens one step at a time. You don’t need a plan to get from where you are to your ideal prayer life. You just need five minutes, today, to start.
The Genius of Mass
Most Catholics ignore their obligation to go to Sunday Mass. Their reasons are myriad, but it’s a big mistake. Sunday Mass represents the most brilliant and disruptive hour of the entire week.
For 167 hours every week, we have ceaseless demands on our time. We have to menu plan, grocery shop, clean the house, do the laundry, drive the kids around, update the budget, answer email, work, wash the cars, mow the lawn, walk the dog, pick up the house, clean up messes, shop for clothes, open packages, order supplies, and so much more.
For one hour a week, we have to do none of that. We don’t have to worry about the report that’s due, the sink overflowing with dishes, or the cars that we haven’t waxed in nine months. It’s the one protected hour when we can finally rest.
This is a glimpse into the Heavenly reward that awaits the diligent among us; a total absence of busyness. Calm, stillness, peace. This is the genius of Mass, a weekly reminder that we don’t have to toil forever. Something much better awaits us.
Fifty-Four
I recently finished reading Atomic Habits, the pop culture phenom beloved by productivity hackers in every industry. The premise of the book is simple: success or failure is built in the tiny, every day actions that we repeatedly take. If we string together a series of positive actions, we’ll see a bigger net result. The opposite is true for negative habits.
Cultivating a rich prayer life is the struggle of a lifetime for every Catholic. As broad and diverse as the life of the Church is, our common challenge is overcoming the tedium of daily prayer. There are plenty of resources that allow for great variety, but at the end of the day, you have to set aside time for prayer, and then you actually have to do it.
The Rosary is undoubtedly a powerful meditation, with benefits both spiritual and physical. Stopping in the middle of the day for a 15-minute break of silence and peace can recharge your batteries, refocus your mind, and propel you through the rest of the day. It’s a good suggestion, but it’s not required, and the vast majority of us don’t do it.
I just finished a 54-day streak of praying the Rosary every day. It was not easy, I had to plan my prayer time, and I had to stick to it. But I was successful because, as James Clear wrote in the Atomic Habits book, I had the stamina to show up every day and work through the boredom.
So much of the battle for our souls happens in the context of our fidelity to prayer, of our submission to the reality that we cannot make it through life spiritually weak. If we want to build a strong habit of prayer, we have to commit and sustain our good works, especially on days when it’s not easy.
Trust
In the most difficult and stressful times of our lives, it’s easy to lose control of our thoughts. The Paleolithic parts of our brains take over, blocking out the logical thinking that has enabled every positive advancement in our lives.
Although our biology fights against our reason, we have at hand many bits of wisdom, sprinkled throughout the Bible. These lines, written thousands of years ago, feel as if they were written just for us. As we stop the spiral, take a deep breath, and regain control, clarity sets in. Our struggles are an invitation to deeper trust in the providence of God that never fails us.
We all have prayers to which the answer is a resounding, “No.” Disappointed as we may be, in time, the things that we asked for are forgotten. It’s prayers that were answered, and the gifts granted to us that are beyond our limited imaginations that matter. Taking a wider view, we see the waypoints, decisions, and impacts in our lives stringing together in a way more beautiful and perfect than we ever could’ve designed.
Troubles will always be with us, but the deeper we trust in God’s will, and His plan for our lives, the more peace we invite into our lives. We don’t have to rely on ourselves, we don’t have to control every factor of our lives; we only have to go where we are called and serve.
Oh why do I worry? Why do I not trust you? Oh child, why hurry? When you have a Father who provides and never withholds His whole heart! Oh, God alone never changes; oh, God alone suffices; and God alone remains faithful.
Transform
It can be hard, intellectually, to grasp the transformative power of Jesus. We all know the personal failure that often comes when we try to implement immediate radical change in our lives, even change for the better.
There may be no better illustration of Jesus’ transformative nature than St. Peter. When he met Jesus, he was an illiterate fisherman. He stumbled and bumbled through Jesus’ public ministry, culminating in his epic abandonment during the Passion.
Through grace, he wept and repented, and shortly thereafter was giving charismatic public speeches that converted 2,000 people at a time.
Like a skilled gardener, he preened the early church, swatting down heresy and shaping the contours of the community that remain until now.
In the end, Peter accepted not only the torture of crucifixion, but inverted crucifixion.
If God can work all of that good through a random anonymous fisherman, what good can he accomplish through my participation in his Divine Plan?