A Sunday Antidote to Synod "Schism" to Start the Week Off Right

The final report of the Synod on the Family will be issued now, the Synod being concluded. For months before the recent Synod on the Family, there was talk of "schism" in the Church as the result of the pronouncements of certain bishops. I usually don't spend a lot of time focused on what's happening in Rome, parsing the latest comments by Pope Francis, or fretting over what this or that episcopal faction thinks. And yet at times these happenings do impinge on our lives, with the potential of upsetting our spiritual progress. They do that by disturbing the peace which our souls require to flourish. What can we do about this?

Well, last week we reminded ourselves that our daily lives present a bigger problem to our spiritual lives than the shenanigans of misguided bishops:

...our daily obligations, the cares of this world, throw up a veil that distracts us from seeing and seeking the Truth. We're caught up in daily obligations that leave little time for God. The Truths of our holy faith seem somehow abstractly "out there" or "up there," having nothing to do with our everyday lives. They're not, of course. But it does take effort - for some of us great effort - to see beyond our noses and live in the light of Truth.

This week, we present an antidote to the potentially upsetting news issuing from Rome. The source of our upset will ooze from cracks in the Synod's final report caused by vagueness. Such vagueness will allow those with "change" agendas room to make unfounded claims supporting "progressive" factions and actions. Supporting their claims will be an avalanche of media reports that likely will twist official pronouncements with innuendo and outright lies. Am I certain this sequence of events will ensue from the final report. No. But I do want to be prepared if it does.

And so, dear shepherds of ours, if you intend to disturb our peace by implying that those truths we learn studying our faith need your sly interpretations; if you exploit any "wiggle room" in the Synod's report to imply that couples in irregular unions (divorced and remarried, living together, same sex "marriages," etc.) can publicly receive Holy Communion with your blessing; if you insist that homosexual acts can be seen as somehow not sinful because of one's conscience, please know that we will not allow your undermining of Truth to disturb our souls. We, your flock, will simply turn to those bracing tonics contained in the words of Holy Scripture, like this one recorded by St John in his First Letter:

"And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. [4] He who saith that he knoweth him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. [5] But he that keepeth his word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected; and by this we know that we are in him." (John 1:3-5)

Nothing vague there. Keep his commandments: not reinterpret them or twist them to suit your ill-conceived, misguided agendas; not tell us we need to understand them in the context of today's customs and mores. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" means just that. Got it?

We won't bother to list the other sins you're looking to minimize or legitimize in some way. It would only serve to upset the peace we harbor in our souls, the peace we need to grow closer to God. With such peace, and with God alive within our souls, even schism cannot, will not deter us or distract us from the Truth we find in the words and teachings of Jesus Christ as faithfully preserved in the Magisterium of His Holy Catholic Church since he Himself gave them to us. We simply pray that the Holy Spirit will some day, in some way, open your eyes such that they can read words like St John's and allow the truth to penetrate your souls rather than enliven your forked tongues.

And we say this with all charity.

Happy Sunday!