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Hint: We are called to pray, fast, give alms, love God and love our neighbor, regardless of what the Church or national leaders are up to.

That liberty is vital to our nation’s government is seen multiple times in the Constitution’s First Amendment. With liberty, our citizens have a free press through which they can learn various ideas and theories; with liberty, citizens can learn about the right way to petition the government; with liberty, citizens can gather to exchange ideas, to hear religious teaching, and to listen to the speech of others and express their own thoughts. In short, religious instruction sets off the chain reaction leading to a free country where children can learn with free and open minds. Kiss that religious instruction goodbye, and you can expect the dominos to fall in a long line toward totalitarianism.

Religion is critical to building good families. There is plenty of evidence that shows that the practice of religion has a positive effect on children and on society. Children who attend religious services are building social capital, a key to success.

That my soul is in great shape That I have suffered great trials, tribulations and crosses That venial sins don’t matter That Satan is a fiction That spiritual combat was just for earlier centuries

“I think candidates are making it easier and easier for us because they’re drawing the line in the sand and you listen to them,” Burbidge said. “You listen to what candidates are saying. They draw the line in the sand, and in many ways there’s the choice between good and evil here.” “And so, listen to what candidates are saying,” Burbidge advised. “They’re making our job easier — who it is that will really do the most good for the preborn, for the vulnerable, for the poor and for our Commonwealth.” Atwell added: “And for religious freedom and rights of speech.”

Obviously this rejection of Catholicism by those who are charged by our Lord to defend it is horrific and tragic. Yet it can serve a good purpose: it makes clear what had been muddled for so long. Instead of pretending everything is awesome while souls are lost, many Catholics—including many bishops and priests—now see with clarity that we are in an open battle for the Church and one has to choose sides.

But when the shepherds speak out against abortion, or the redefinition of marriage, or the trampling of religious freedom, they are not intruding into politics. They’re defending God’s rights against intrusive politicians. The right to life, the meaning of marriage, the reality of male and female – such things belong to God. We cannot cooperate in giving them to Caesar. When the Church speaks out on those matters, she is simply echoing the word of her divine Spouse: repay to God what belongs to God.

Yes, the Church accepts money because the Church needs money to keep its operations going. But consider another institution that needs and accepts money: a school. What would we say about a school that said, “Kids don’t like math, so let’s just stop offering math”? Don’t we assume the school has a responsibility to teach its students things they might not “like”? Perhaps, then, we should admit the Church has an analogous responsibility: to teach and to do what is in the best interests of her members, even if they don’t always “like” it – and even if it doesn’t always make her “popular.”

It’s clear to me that faithful Catholics can expect no assistance, or at best little and tentative assistance, from the institutional Church as we try to reform old schools, establish new schools, reintegrate good to great art and music (across cultural and folk traditions) into our worship, help to resuscitate or recreate some of the many genres of the arts and crafts that have been lost, reform or found institutions of social welfare, revive a genuinely Catholic and Christian intellectual tradition across the disciplines, and – most important when it comes to the laity and what they are directly responsible for – preach and embody the virtues that make for coherent and vibrant family life.

Performative Catholicism has become the norm today, and the Rosary is the primary tool in the performance. President Joe Biden loves to show off his rosary, such as during a virtual conversation with Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador. Claiming his devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe—despite the fact that President Biden has promoted the most extreme pro-abortion policies in history—Biden told Obrador that he had visited Mexico four times as vice president and during his visits he “paid his respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe.”

The principle of dogma is set in contrast, first of all, to human creativity: “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.” The Church’s faith is received from God, not manufactured by man. It is not a collection of merely human ideas. Nor does our knowledge of God come from our own cleverness or insight. Our faith comes from Christ’s heavenly Father. He has spoken His Word into the world in such a manner that we can not only receive it but also hand it on. But our fallen human nature doesn’t want to receive anything. That would indicate a lack of freedom. We prefer to imitate Eve and grasp. We are so enslaved to our autonomy that we reject even the given/received nature of our own bodies and choose to self-identify as something else.

What is The Catholic Way in this time of Church-wide crucifixion? It will vary, but here are some thoughts: An intensified prayer life; at least one hour each day. Living out our vocational call to holiness through daily sacrifice. More frequent reception of the Eucharist and visits to the Adoration chapel. Increased service to the poor and corporal works of mercy. Deepening our devotion to Mary. More frequent confessions. Increased time with Scripture and spiritual reading.

Parishes are not supposed to be fast food establishments offering services on the go to busy people. Instead they must demand more from their members, for them to slow down, and adapt their lives around their faith and their parish (and not the other way around). Note I’m not saying that parishes should just be demanding more volunteers and more “activity” in the parish. The reconfiguration first and foremost would come in the home and in the communities that support the parish. It’s not a matter of being more involved in the parish; it’s a whole new way of living in which home life is centered around the parish’s sacramental and devotional life.

So we see that God expects us, in the present devastation of His vineyard, to respond first of all by growing in faith, hope, and love; secondly, by being especially watchful lest we be infected in any way; thirdly, by struggling against the devastation with all the means at our disposal; and fourthly, by not forgetting that the absolute truth of the deposit of the Catholic Faith objectively remains untouched by all the empty talk of certain theologians.

God sent Brendan a community that is almost like a desert, a community of vast power and fabulous wealth. He was sent to show that all lives are worth living. I believe Brendan is a canonizable saint, that he will become the patron saint of those with intellectual disabilities. There are many stories to tell about Brendan and his almost mystical faith.

I am the church. I am not afraid to be politically incorrect. I am not ashamed to proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah, and through Him and Him alone can our sins be forgiven. I do not believe that all religions are equal. Yes, I believe that Western civilization has progressed, making freedom more available and rights more equal because of the Christian faith that proclaims that rights and responsibility go hand in hand. No, I am not ashamed of the gospel. Yes, I am the church.

And this is where the typical Catholic parish falls far short. Catholic life today is so insipid, so divorced from supernatural realities, that most young people find it wholly uninteresting. Although faithful Catholics know there is supernatural power behind even the most bland sacramental celebrations, those who are not fully formed in the faith don’t usually recognize this. They see the blandness with their own eyes, and their eyes of faith are not developed enough to see the supernatural power underneath.

Calls for accompaniment of sinners are everywhere now, not least within the Church herself. But Christian accompaniment must mean more than just spending time together. God warned Ezekiel – who in turn warned the Israelites – “[If] you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked man. . .and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.” Too many of the champions of contemporary accompaniment have forgotten that true charity is linked to the truth and to uprightness.

What is fidelity, or loyalty—especially marital fidelity? Is it staying with a person whom, after five or ten or twenty or forty years you still feel like staying with? Or is it living out the commitment to stay with that person, to love him or her, to overcome the difficulties of living together, to work at the love you have promised him or her (and the children that result from that love)?

Just as we have neglected the weekly Sabbath, our seasons are without rhythms of rest. Switching from the tired routines of the school year to the open space of summer should be a relief. Instead, in our anxiety and unfamiliarity with leisure, we opt to chop up the time into measurable weeks at robotics camp, music camp, art camp, volleyball camp. Some camps are good and worthy opportunities for enthusiasts to converge. Camps for the sake of filling the time are a sad substitute for real summer.