Catholic Husband

This blog has defended Pope Francis. He told us to go out into the Church and the world to make a mess. His pontificate has certainly achieved that objective. The Vatican’s moral abdication on China is disconcerting. Over a million ethic Uyghurs arbitrarily detained in concentration camps, and the Vatican said nothing. The Chinese Communist Party’s insistence on Sinicization of religion and even the accord allowing the CCP to co-appoint bishops adds to the concern. In addition to issues on the world stage, Pope Francis has regularly minimized the primary troubles of our day to include marriage, family life, and abortion.

To be fair, Pope Pius XII was publicly silent during the atrocities of World War II while privately coordinating resistance to the regime. It is at least possible that Francis has chosen to follow in this mold.

Pope Francis is right to highlight other issues of our faith, such as the plight of migrants. His emphasis on the theological virtue of charity is evident and a timely reminder.

The problem with highlighting these new areas is that they are of lesser moral weight than the core teachings of the Church. Further, his confusing and nuanced statements sow confusion, even among the well catechized faithful. How do we reconcile the Catholic intellectual tradition with off the cuff remarks that so clearly contradict 2,000 years of established teaching from the most brilliant minds in the Church?

It’s clear that these aren’t little slips of the tongue, loose words, or errors. When Pope Francis speaks, he knows what he’s doing, and he’s doing it on purpose. Unfortunately, it’s the definition of scandal: speaking to cause confusions. How are we to respond?

We must start with humility. While he does not offer these remarks under the principle of Papal Infallibility, Francis was elected pontiff for a reason. It may not be clear to us now, but there is some message that the Holy Spirit is trying to send to us. Perhaps the message is that we should not be so narrowly focused in our own spiritual lives, but to embrace the wholeness of loving each other. Perhaps we’ve become too comfortable and spiritually selfish, caring more about our salvation than the salvation of others.

Next, we must resist the urge to cancel Pope Francis. I don’t subscribe to a cancel culture. I understand people to be complex, so I take their good and set aside their bad. He is still the supreme pontiff, entrusted with the care of the Church.

In our lives, we must stand up for truth. The most damaging part of all of this scandal is that it’s a weak attempt to sugar coat the truth. Truth is always hard to hear, but it’s the most loving word to share. The family is vital to the survival of society and humanity writ large. To recast the family is to weaken and denigrate it. Our world widely accepts immorality in the vain attempt to make everyone feel good about themselves. Only this acceptance comes with reducing the dignity of the very people it aims to support. Our world needs to continue to hear with absolute clarity the saving message of the Church and an unequivocal advocacy for the absolute dignity of the human person.

Finally, don’t give up. Not even the gates of Hell will prevail against the Church, so we shouldn’t fret about a few poor comments to the media. The wedge of schism drives people away from grace, and that’s why it is so effective. If a media quote is enough to get a person or a family to leave their faith behind forever, that’s a victory for darkness.

Be patient, be humble, and stand in truth.

Election day is finally here. What a cycle it’s been! In many respects, this election cycle has been just as dramatic as any other. It’s the biggest, most contentious, most important election of your life! We’re either going to have a country or a civil war starting on Wednesday morning. At least that’s what we’re told. The truth is, people have predicted the downfall of America since its beginning. Yet, here we are.

It’s easy to give into the stress and fear. There’s a real chance that we won’t have a result tomorrow night, a replay of the 2000 election. It’s even easier to let our stress get out of control amid our lockdown.

This entire cycle of manufactured drama and crisis is a perfect reminder for us. The media and politicians need our eyes, need our clicks, and need us to be terrified. They need to shut down our rational minds and tap into the fight or flight emotions to achieve their commercial and political objectives. If you step back from the hype and look at the record of the candidates, you’ll have a much more boring electoral decision-making experience.

What’s the reminder? The reminder is two-fold. First, we already have a Savior. Regardless of which party holds power come January, Christ still reigns. History also tells us that in four years, the opposite party is likely to be in power. So getting worked up in the emotions is an exercise in futility.

Second, the Church has been persecuted since its founding. Our faith runs counter to the culture, and this Pax Christianity that we’ve enjoyed over the past couple of decades stands opposed to the history of the Church. I like being comfortable as much as the next guy, but our faith speaks out against the cruel injustices of the World. Should we be persecuted, we can at least know that we’re in good company.

We are a people of hope. We are called to live in this World, to speak Truth, and to love our neighbor. Be an active, faithful participant in civic life, but don’t place your hope in a transient political movement. Place your hope in the God who has always loved you, and who has never fallen short of His word.

Getting to Mass on a weekday is hard for me, and that was before the pandemic. The difficulty is not handling my four kids by myself for half an hour. It’s getting everyone up, dressed, fed, and in the pew by 8:30am. Lately our parish switched Mass times for the weekday liturgies to 5:00pm, another challenge for parents of little ones.

The Mass is central to our Catholic faith. The lockdowns earlier this year highlighted just how big of a role that weekly liturgy plays in the rhythm of our weeks. Without the Mass and the Eucharist, we’ve been marooned in a spiritual desert.

During those difficult weeks, with tremendous gratitude to the ministries that stepped up to the plate, our separation was more bearable. Like many businesses, parishes used their creativity to help us all cope. Parish rosaries have been prayed over teleconference, new homily podcasts have been published, Eucharistic Adoration has been live-streamed on YouTube, and the Mass, that sacred celebration, recorded and uploaded for viewing on any schedule.

This pandemic continues to reshaped our lives in new and different ways. It’s a disruptive event, and I was glad that it shook the Catholic Church awake. All of these new ways to experience and express our faith, in community while apart, enriched my family’s life. We were more connected than we had ever been to the daily life of the Church.

I quickly keyed in on the Word on Fire Daily Mass. A ministry started by Bishop Robert Barron, Word on Fire is a digital education and evangelization platform that teaches topics of faith. They’re uniquely suited to record and publish the daily Mass because they’re a digital first organization.

My family attended Mass with Word on Fire for two main reasons. First, we knew that Bishop Barron is a legitimate Catholic priest, so the Masses we attended were valid. Second, since they’re so experienced with video production and distribution, the production values were very high. The camera angle, lighting, and audio were all carefully considered so we could focus on prayer and not poor lighting or distant audio.

Imagine my disappointment when Word on Fire announced at the end of May that they would stop uploading their Daily Mass. Weekend liturgies would have 144,000 or more views while the weekday Masses averaged 65,000 views.

The average Catholic parish in America would be lucky to have 50 people attend Mass on a weekday, and here Word on Fire was touching tens of thousands of people every single day.

In their announcement, Word on Fire cited that public Masses were resuming in California and that they never intended for their Daily Masses to be published on an ongoing basis. They also expressed their desire for people to return to their parishes. Their points are taken.

Even so, no matter how justified, what a terrible mistake.

The lesson for us to take away from the pandemic is that we need more avenues for expressing our faith. The Domestic Church, that idea that the family is at the core of the spiritual life of a person, needs the support of external resources. We harnessed new technologies, quickly, and started praying together in new ways.

Further, I wonder how many lost Catholics, or even just Catholic-curious people, were drawn to the Church through these new and modern methods.

Sadly, as the lockdowns lifted, many parishes and ministries ceased these operations. It was a heartbreaking stumble to watch. The New Evangelization demands that we use new methods and the technology that we have to spread the Gospel. This pandemic was the perfect excuse for us to try new things and experiment. When you try something novel and half a million people show up every week, you don’t just turn it off because it took some extra effort.