When Judeo-Christian principles are abandoned, evil eventually ensues. One doesn’t have to be a believer to acknowledge this. Many secular conservatives recognize that the end of religion in the West leads to moral chaos — which is exactly what we are witnessing today and exactly what we witnessed in Europe last century. When Christianity died in Europe, we got communism, fascism and Nazism. What will we get in America if Christianity and Judeo-Christian values die?
This is why I can’t drive by the homeless without thinking of their mothers. And I wish I had something really powerful to close this with. Some sort of theological statement that knocks your socks off. But honestly? All that I have today is a mother’s heart. A heart that is so grateful for the Veronicas in my own children’s lives. The Veronicas in all of our lives. The unrecorded moments and wordless acts of charity that step into our loved ones' paths as they walk toward their own Calvary, helping them along the way when we cannot.
The shocking lack of conscience on display in America is producing behaviors that can largely be grouped into one of two categories. First, historic levels of suicide, opioid use, and overdoses, as well as epidemic levels of loneliness and isolation (especially among the most vulnerable) are together known as “deaths from despair.” Second, the various and consistent acts of mass violence, such as shootings and rioting, are among those things that could be labeled “acts of desperation.”
“The family” John Paul II wrote nearly 30 years ago, “has always been considered as the first and basic expression of man’s social nature . . . A truly sovereign and spiritually vigorous nation is always made up of strong families who are aware of their vocation and mission in history.” It’s precisely because the ties of blood, and kinship, and family bind so tightly that humans will live, and work, and when needed die, to have their families flourish. This explains why “the history of mankind, the history of salvation, passes by way of the family.”
When Pope Paul VI issued his prophetic encyclical, Humane Vitae, he did nothing more than affirm eternal Church teachings. This was not to the liking of many progressive prelates who believed the Church should get with the times and support contraception. Many influential priests and theologians, conspicuously Father Curran of Catholic University, defied the Church and Pope, and began a reign of schismatic destruction that resulted in a generation of cafeteria Catholics, legalized abortion, skyrocketing divorce and cohabitation, single mothers, gay "marriage" and a more societal ills. These were all foreseen by the pontiff as what would result from surrendering to modernity. We are at a similar juncture today as priests, Bishops and lost theologians are already openly defying the Pope Francis' affirmation of eternal Church teachings on same sex unions. God help us.
Many priests and prelates are morally obtuse because of vital immanence. Because there is no fear of God, there is no wisdom. Those who have, in their pride, abandoned the teaching of the Magisterium have abandoned the wisdom that the Magisterium provides, and they are left with a bankrupt moral theology. In contrast, “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way” (Psalms 25:9).
From Twitter: "There are 2 opinion polls in the New Testament: "Who do the people say that the Son of Man is?" (e.g., Matthew 16:13) and "Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Messiah?” (e.g., Matthew 27:17). The mob got it wrong both times."
In other words, while not every sin may be expressly inevitable, each is possible. We are capable of it. To think otherwise is to sound an awfully lot like Peter, “Lord, I would never deny you.” Every fallen human being is at least capable of many evils, even the unthinkable ones.
What the Church asks of Catholics with same sex-attraction may be unambiguous and simple chastity – but that does not make it easy. God offers mercy to all, but His offer of mercy does not spare us difficult choices. In a sense, God’s greatest mercy is that choice: he offers us a way out, narrow though it may be, rather than leaving us as we are. And though He looks at us and loves us, as he did the rich man, he leaves it to us to accept the offer. Or not.
Anywhere from 50-75% of Catholics have lost their way. How do we bring them home? "To the extent that this is true, it’s because we Catholics know only too well that a whole lot of people who call themselves “Catholic” have very little knowledge of the faith and put very little of what they do know into use. They favor “a woman’s right to choose” and abortion, and they disfavor getting up on a Sunday morning and going to Mass. You could say they’re “out of practice,” the way I am with French and the drums, which were old passions allowed to cool."
Shame is a negative feeling, so we don’t apply standards on people in an attempt to avoid causing them pain. But what about the real pain of a fatherless child or of an overweight patient struggling to breath due to COVID-19? They need to be told the truth in love, if not directly then at least by maintaining standards based in truth which people are aware of and hold in common.
That’s what St. Edith Stein meant when she said, “A woman’s soul is a shelter in which other souls unfold.” The same, altered a bit, could be said of the Church, “She is a shelter in which souls unfold.” When looked at together, perhaps it isn’t an accident that The Church, churches, and women have all experienced a similar kind of damage – the last fifty years truly have been an assault on the feminine. It is high time we restore both to their glory.
Milo Yiannopoulos, the gay man whose conservative messaging and willingness to speak the truth sparked riots on university campuses may well trigger more outrage now that he describes himself as “Ex-Gay” and “sodomy free,” and is leading a daily consecration to St. Joseph online.
Our President, who was baptized Catholic, celebrated Women's Day by introducing a Gender Policy commission which allows men to invade women's space. We at Shore Catholics celebrate all women as beautiful daughters of the King. A special "shout out" to all those humble and vital women who stay home to raise the future of society.
Without the union of man and woman, society would cease to exist. Yes, a dystopian society like that of Aldous Huxley's World State could use artificial wombs for reproduction, but a healthy democracy (one we're apt to prefer) depends upon the mutual love and compromise of man and woman in lifelong marriage, and their willingness to set high personal standards for the good of their children.
The problem with “politics is downstream from culture” is that it may instill a kind of stasis in people: Well, I am raising my kids, and after all, we have that reading group that meets every month. Isn’t this how we change the culture? Isn’t this how we change politics way down the river? And all the while, right down the street, they are teaching sodomy to children. Sure, learn swing dancing. Go to your reading group. But also, pound on the door of the local school board. Politics cannot wait for culture.
Every current bishop, I suppose, would tell us, if asked, that he’d be happy to see his life end with the crown of martyrdom – even though not many of them seem willing to accept the “minor martyrdom” of a bad press, or the defiance of “soft” diocesan priests who refuse to preach a “hard” kind of Catholicism, or the closed pocketbooks of multimillionaires who are displeased with the “extremism” of a bishop who (like Grant) actually fights.
Starting in the upcoming school year, all public schools will be required to teach transgender identity and sexual orientation diversity lessons beginning in kindergarten. Let’s not forget: on June 3, 2020, Governor Murphy’s Department of Education adopted new learning standards for Health Class. Part of these revised standards for 8th grade include 2.1.8.SSH.9: Define vaginal, oral, and anal sex.
The real Thomas More would have found Bolt’s reasoning incomprehensible. More believed in the existence of truth – not just “my” truth or “your” truth, but the truth, God’s universal and enduring truth – regardless of our personal opinions. For More, that truth resides with unique beauty and authority in the Catholic Church, and we owe her teachings our loyalty, without reservations, if we claim to be Catholic. Which is why he died for her, and why his fidelity remains a model for us in every season: the good, the bad. . . And our own. Something to remember in the days ahead.
Our physical presence at Mass is pivotal because Jesus acted in the flesh and continues to come to us in the flesh. Now, more than ever, it is both “necessary and urgent to return to the normality of Christian life…and especially the Eucharist,” as noted by Cardinal Sarah last September. This is not only wise advice from the former Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship, but a practical plea to all Catholics to return to the place of the utmost grace.