Since Time Immemorial
Lately there has been an extreme push to change what the Church teaches—or at least to reframe Church teaching—to suit various “agendas”.
It has to stop.
The truths of THE Faith have literally been written into stone for millennia.
There is no changing them.
It never ceases to astound me how bold various factions (and prelates) in the Church are, who try to change what the Church teaches. Make no mistake: they are trying to change church teaching. It’s plain as the nose on your face. The guise of love and “being pastoral” has led many to accept—nay—embrace with fervor!—things our ancestors would have literally driven out of town with pitchforks and firebrands.
German priests (and, frankly, many Jesuits) are openly blessing certain “unions” in direct contravention to perennial Catholic teaching (and a recent reaffirmation from Rome that this is simply not possible).
“Old Catholics” are openly ordaining women who present themselves as real “priests”, and more worrying still: some so-called “catholics” are attending their services. (To be clear, these women are not ordained, do not confect the Sacrament, and the “faithful” who attend such nonsense have ceased to be catholics.)
Many people indulge in 2nd and 3rd unions and present themselves for communion which is a profanation of our Lord in the Blessèd Sacrament; worse still: this seems to have the approbation of many prelates in Rome including Francis himself. (This is a mortal sin for all involved, and has been strictly forbidden for two thousand years.)
The logical secondary argument here is that it is impossible to live the “ideal” taught by the Church. As a married man who lives in a natural marriage and regularly abstains, I can assure you, it is not impossible or even impractical.
Supposedly the death penalty is no longer permissible—a complete 180º from the historical teaching, including the teachings of none other than the the Angelic Doctor (St. Thomas Aquinas).
Make no mistake: if you abandon the Truth, you shall perish.
(And it will be your own fault.)
Our ancestors were so sure of the Faith they literally wrote it into stone. We can literally view 1,000 year old iconography that reveals perennial truths about the Faith. Don’t listen to people who say “Mary isn’t important.” The early Christians sure thought otherwise, and we have the edifices to prove it! We have sermon upon sermon upon sermon of many of the great saints and doctors of the church who all teach XY&Z. Now priests and bishops are teaching something totally different. Ironically enough, the churches they are building look different too.
Our Lord will not be mocked.
Our Lord will not be mocked. He will have His day. That said, we need to play our part too. We comprise the “church militant” after all. Many of today’s abuses would have never happened if our immediate predecessors had been firm in their faith and fought harder for the Church. Countless beautiful churches were stripped of everything holy and beautiful; whitewashed and Jesus was sent to the broom closet down the hall… Why didn’t the faithful fight these changes tooth and nail? †1
The abuses will continue to happen until we make an effort to right the ship.
I propose a few action items to help remedy this situation:
Catholics must finally personally engage with Holy Writ. Catholics need to read what St. Paul wrote themselves, and not just let cherry picked passages wash over you absentmindedly at Mass once a week. St. Paul had a lot to say… and he was very clear… and he point-blank condemns much of what modern culture is embracing with fervor today.
We can no longer permit abuses (of any kind) to continue. That means we need to confront abuses head on and be bold! I once had to confront a visiting priest who was deliberately changing the words of consecration to suit his own agenda! (True story. Come over—bring wine—and I’ll tell you all about it.) I literally had to confront him in the street between Masses to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. It scared the you-know-what out of me to do it, but there was no other option.
We have to become serious about respecting the Most Blessèd Sacrament! That means NO MORE COMMUNION IN THE HAND. (Don’t blather on about the “pandemic”. It’s utterly irrelevant when it comes to profanation of our Lord!) This means genuflecting when you come into church. This means only approaching the Sacrament if you are in a state of grace! (Stay tuned: I will be sharing more about why communion in the hand is bad in upcoming blog posts.)
We have to form our lives around the Faith we profess. That means acting like we believe what we say we do. That means praying the rosary regularly (daily if you can muster it!). That means abstaining from meat on Fridays all year ‘round—not just during Lent. (You didn’t know that was still a thing, did you?) That means refraining from servile work insofar as possible on Sundays, and also refraining from patronizing retail establishments (and Amazon) too. “Keep holy the Sabbath” is one of the big 10; it’s not just a casual suggestion. It means treating Holy Days like… holy days! Going to Mass and saying extra prayers—joyfully, and not begrudgingly. It means dressing up for Mass and acting in church like the second Person of the Holy Trinity is literally sitting on a throne in the front of the church when you enter… because He is! †2
We have to live chastely. Our culture is a deluge of filth. Every billboard, movie, and TV show is pornographic to some degree or another. Every generation is called to make reparation for something. Our generation needs to make reparation for the flood of iniquity that would have made Sodom & Gomorrah blush. Yahoogle Fr. Ripperger to find out more.
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum,
James
†1 • I am heartened by what happened years ago at one of my previous parishes, a beautiful country church built in the old style with beautiful neo-gothic high altar: A destruction-minded priest attempted to rip out the altars and whitewash the room and the parishioners absolutely put their foot down. The priest tried to claim the altar was unsafe/unstable and ready to collapse (convenient eh? It had been standing just fine for more than half a century…). One enterprising parishioner made a series of markings and applied bits of tape on the seams on the back of the reredos to prove that the altar hadn’t moved an inch. When it became clear after quite some time that the altar was rock solid, the pastor had to admit defeat and begrudgingly leave the altar in place. I’m pleased to report that the tape is still stuck to the back of the altar nearly 60 years later and the high altar is once again used for solemnities.
†2 • What would you do if you had an opportunity to come before Queen Elizabeth II as she was seated on her throne in the house of Lords? How would you act? Would you dress up in your finest clothes and then show great deference to her majesty? If I had to guess, I’d suppose you would. I know I would. She is, after all, anointed sovereign of one of the most powerful nations on earth.
Can you not do at least that much for the King of Glory Himself enthroned in the tabernacle?
