A Laetare Sunday Morning Thought to Start the Week Off Right
We continue without a Pope. The media continues its commentary, laced with criticism of our Holy Church - some deserved, much, though, intended to undermine the Catholic Church. And it's at times like this that making time each day to study our Holy Faith each day pays off.
You do spend a few minutes each day studying the truths of our Catholic Faith each day, don't you? If not, then what you're about to read should motivate you without my having to encourage you - although I encourage you nonetheless. Not that you'll become a theologian by such study. But you will be able to more easily sort through the comments and criticisms directed at our Holy Mother and understand how and why so many of them are propaganda promoting modernist, heterodox views, if not simply attacks. It only takes maybe 10 - 15 minutes a day.
So here's a good example of such commentary, published this past week:
For example, "Pope Benedict - as he chose to be called": Don't all Popes choose their names? So why make this statement? For those who don't know, it sounds somewhat like the very choice of a name was somehow strange or problematic.
And what about "spoke as if in shock"? What could that possibly mean? Was the author there? I suspect not. Did someone tell him the Pope was in shock? Of is it the next statement that causes the author to conclude the Pope must have been in shock:
But if you know anything about your faith, its truths, its history, you know that such a statement is not only perfectly normal, but you'd almost expect a newly elected pope to make a similar statement, wouldn't you? The idea that the papacy is more than one single individual can "handle" on his own shouldn't be any surprise. But, naturally, the author interprets this thusly: not only was Pope Benedict was in over his head, but anyone - in this complex modern age in which we live - will be in over their heads. And we know where this leads: the papacy is outmoded. You need some sort of committee or consortium to "run" the Church.
The fact is the papacy has always been a daunting assignment for any one individual - at least any individual who wanted to be a good pope, rather than one of those unseemly characters who from time to time have held the office. No one can "manage" the Church, as if it were just like a business corporation.
Indeed, Pius IX, who ascended to the Chair of St Peter in 1846 in a time at least as difficult for the life of the Church as our own, wrote in his first encyclical, Qui Pluribus, reminded us that Christ:
You do spend a few minutes each day studying the truths of our Catholic Faith each day, don't you? If not, then what you're about to read should motivate you without my having to encourage you - although I encourage you nonetheless. Not that you'll become a theologian by such study. But you will be able to more easily sort through the comments and criticisms directed at our Holy Mother and understand how and why so many of them are propaganda promoting modernist, heterodox views, if not simply attacks. It only takes maybe 10 - 15 minutes a day.
So here's a good example of such commentary, published this past week:
(Reuters) - Joseph Ratzinger never hid the fact he thought the Roman Catholic papacy was too big for one man.Never mind the rest of the article (click HERE if you want to read it); I hope you see the manipulative language - even without knowing your faith well.
For several days after being elected in 2005, Pope Benedict - as he chose to be called - spoke as if in shock. At his first public Mass, he asked: "I must assume this enormous task, which truly exceeds all human capacity. How can I do this?"
For example, "Pope Benedict - as he chose to be called": Don't all Popes choose their names? So why make this statement? For those who don't know, it sounds somewhat like the very choice of a name was somehow strange or problematic.
And what about "spoke as if in shock"? What could that possibly mean? Was the author there? I suspect not. Did someone tell him the Pope was in shock? Of is it the next statement that causes the author to conclude the Pope must have been in shock:
"I must assume this enormous task, which truly exceeds all human capacity. How can I do this?"Now we get into the meat of the commentary. The author plants his seed and proceeds to water it in the following paragraphs. Indeed, right on cue, the author rolls out Jesuit Thomas Reece, formerly editor of the heterodox Jesuit publication "America," who states that what the Cardinals will be looking for in choosing a new pope is "Jesus Christ with an MBA." Really?
But if you know anything about your faith, its truths, its history, you know that such a statement is not only perfectly normal, but you'd almost expect a newly elected pope to make a similar statement, wouldn't you? The idea that the papacy is more than one single individual can "handle" on his own shouldn't be any surprise. But, naturally, the author interprets this thusly: not only was Pope Benedict was in over his head, but anyone - in this complex modern age in which we live - will be in over their heads. And we know where this leads: the papacy is outmoded. You need some sort of committee or consortium to "run" the Church.
The fact is the papacy has always been a daunting assignment for any one individual - at least any individual who wanted to be a good pope, rather than one of those unseemly characters who from time to time have held the office. No one can "manage" the Church, as if it were just like a business corporation.
Indeed, Pius IX, who ascended to the Chair of St Peter in 1846 in a time at least as difficult for the life of the Church as our own, wrote in his first encyclical, Qui Pluribus, reminded us that Christ:
"...never abandons those who hope in Him. Time and again, so as to demonstrate what His power can accomplish, He employs weak instruments to rule His Church; in this way, all men may increasingly realize that it is God Himself who governs and protects the Church with His wonderful Providence."Now there's a commentary that makes all the sense in the world.
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