The Art of War

The Battle of Lepanto

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. - Ephesians 6:12

Times like these are not unlike other eras during which the Church has been compelled to reorient her approach to evangelization for the sake of souls, for the sake of remaining faithful to the mission of Christ. However, by adapting to circumstances, the Church does not surrender the integrity of the content of the Faith. Ever. Never. The world needs the hope of the Gospel unvarnished, not some chimera of worldly ideologies and feel-good pseudo-spiritualities.

Translating the Catholic Faith into terms that the unchurched can understand is an act of charity. However, too often, as the headlines readily confirm, Catholics who don't know the Faith and substitute a Jesus made in their own image for the revealed Son of God - a lamentable fact which too frequently includes clergy - are, in their haste to popularize the Faith not translating but reinventing the Faith largely through carelessness and, need it be said, in an attempt to locate heterodoxy at the heart of the Church so that sinful behaviours may be "blessed". The Church in Germany, for one, seems to have largely abandoned orthodoxy for "relevance". Relevance, which is a companion for compromise, i.e., the substitution of worldly ideologies for the truths of the Faith.

Evangelization, the recruitment of souls for Christ, progresses fastest and deepest when Catholics allow the Lord to kindle in missionaries a brighter fire. Catholics who launch out into the deep (duc in altum) take greater risks for the sake of the salvation of others. Catholics must actually, intentionally believe in the necessity of salvation in Christ. We must pray for the grace to live the Faith without compromise. A badly behaved Catholic, that is, a Catholic who (very publicly) insists on describing himself - or allowing others to describe him - as "devout" while he enacts policies that are offensive to God, does the most damage to the mission of the Church. A millstone salesman should be able to sell a lot of his products these days to errant Catholics who are leading their brethren into sin.

Cheap Religion

Manmade religions abound: socialism; gender ideology; critical race theory; materialism. The aforementioned  religions invite disaster into societies that promote them in their schools while excluding criticism of the same.

Man's thirst for easy approval often enables him to avoid the one real question: What must I do to attain eternal life? Half-answers such as those -isms listed require little effort from people comfortable with "solutions" that mirror their own idols. The -isms "satisfy" for a time because they are quick answers that scapegoat others and thus provide people with an elevation of their reputation. Because that elevation comes at the expense of another's well being, they are cheap answers. They point the finger away from one's own corrupt heart or disordered inclinations toward others deemed by the glitterati to be racist, sexist, etc. Desperate people who buy into quick fix solutions run the risk of becoming addicted to one quick fix after another.

Never meet a superior force head-on (pun not intended)

Japanese Augustinian Martyrs

When confronted with a well-organized army occupying one's lands, one must become a resistance fighter trained in stealth and subversion to whittle away at the occupiers' resources and ability to wage war on the innocent. Taking a cue from the infidels that currently roam the streets burning cars and looting businesses and attacking emergency personnel, we Christians - the original freedom fighters - must restore civility and charity to society while routing an adversary whose vile tactics and occupation of communities cannot end soon enough. We Christians are the original subversives inhabiting catacombs, meeting secretly to avoid persecution, constructing priest-holes to protect clergy, inventing codes (ΙΧΘΥΣ, cryptic songs, etc.) that indicate safehouses for learning and safe places for worship and for learning the Faith.

We are in the midst of a war of words. Noelle Mering writes (H/T Theology of Home):

Consider how drastically we have altered the meaning and usage of simple words like love, hate, man, woman, and marriage. Consider the new vocabulary that we have introduced into our cultural psyche (the day before yesterday): words such as intersectionality, cisgender, heteronormativity, and positionality. Not only are such concepts suddenly everywhere, but conformity to their proper use is increasingly demanded. But it is not just the building blocks that are corrupted; the purpose of the project is obscured entirely.

Of this, George Orwell writes:

"Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible."

Our subversive response to the appropriation of language does not borrow violence to enlist allies and effect change. We infiltrate conversations using a Christian vocabulary that offers an authentic perspective. We gently and matter-of-factly offer loving kindness guided by the knowledge we are created in the image and likeness of God. Our attempts are nothing obvious, just a relentless refinement of jargon to move people beyond clichés to authentic living, and toward a hospitality that accepts and engages people without indulging their wayward behaviours.

• Social justice redefined is loving kindness. Loving kindness requires the disciple to embody change that respects the common good and the dignity of man. It's one thing to call for the improvement of people's lives. It's quite another matter if no one steps up to create jobs, to pour soup into an empty bowl, to offer a person ensnared by self deception a mirror of hope to help them gain agency and the means to move beyond despair. While social justice pundits blather on in safe ivory towers and pad their résumés with associations, Saint Teresa of Calcutta noted those people starving on the steps of buildings housing international conferences on ... feeding the poor.
• When people want to politicize an issue and thereby consign people to endless debate, we must insist that we personalize the issue and discover what an issue says about who we are in order to move people to assume responsibility and to take action. Racism, for example, is not confined to any one group. Racism is common among all peoples. Racism is part of the unredeemed human condition. The Holy Gospel frees us from man's inhumanity toward man.
• Protest is replaced by pilgrimage and solidarity. Pope Saint John Paul II embodied a fearless faith. When he preached "be not afraid", citing the words of our Saviour, tens of millions of people took heart and without a shot being fired, nor a mob burning down buildings, the Iron Curtain was rent, the Wall of shame disintegrated. The darkness cannot stand up to the Light of God.
• When someone refers to another person as a good person, acting as pope to canonize another individual, they are really saying 'I am judge'. Should anyone be comfortable being judged "acceptable" by someone who is himself in no position to measure someone's virtue, or lack thereof? Some folk believe you can be good without religion. Yes, to a degree. However, it's not like someone achieves goodness and that's it, there is nothing left in life to learn. Grace perfects nature. Why stay as you are if you can be better with the help of grace? Complacency is a virtue to some people's way of thinking. In that instance, complacency may be masking bigotry, a hatred of something simply because it challenges their poorly founded assumptions. To a person comfortable with and practiced in their conceit, there is nothing more uncomfortable when someone or something comes along and with relative ease dismantles his neatly constructed idols. The "I'm a good person" idol is defended by a twisted version of the Ten Commandments.

1. I'm not as bad as other people, especially politicians (...therefore that makes me better than others and by that definition I'm a good person). St. Luke 18:11
2. I haven't murdered anyone. St. Matthew 5:21-22
3. I haven't committed adultery (...although I do lust after my boss' wife). St. Matthew 5:28; 31-32
4. I haven't stolen anything (...though I do underpay my employees and retain their tips). Jeremiah 17:9
5. I (mostly) love those who love me. St. Luke 6:32-36
6. I occasionally lie, and gossip - but who doesn't? James 1:26
7. I occasionally park my vehicle in a parking space reserved for a person with a disability and speed through a school zone during school hours - but who doesn't when you've got some place to be? Exodus 20:16
8. I gotta be me... even if that means others must unjustly suffer. St. Luke 12:19; Revelation 3:17
9. I don't cut in line (jump the queue) unless I'm in a hurry. James 1:22
10. I don't judge others unless they judge me. St. Matthew 7:1-3

Pope Saint John Paul II in Poland 1979

The Relentless River

Rivers flow around obstacles, wearing them down. A river rises and falls, but it's action is relentless on individuals and societies, turning rock into sand and washing it away. The river of faithful people may change course but we do not surrender the goal of reaching the Sea.

Following the study of Sacred Scripture, the Holy Fathers, the doctors and liturgy of the Church, and under the guidance of the Church's magisterium, let them rightly illustrate the duties and privileges of the Blessed Virgin which always look to Christ, the source of all truth, sanctity and piety. Let them assiduously keep away from whatever, either by word or deed, could lead separated brethren or any other into error regarding the true doctrine of the Church. Let the faithful remember moreover that true devotion consists neither in sterile or transitory affection, nor in a certain vain credulity, but proceeds from true faith, by which we are led to know the excellence of the Mother of God, and we are moved to a filial love toward our mother and to the imitation of her virtues. - Lumen Gentium 67

We Catholics, too, must be a river that knows when to shift course but remain relentlessly oriented to reaching the Sea, the Truth. We do not surrender to temptations of power, as some marginally Catholic politicians have done. We do not hide behind sophistry in an attempt to absolve ourselves from defending innocent lives. We employ spiritual weapons that slice through the banality of Hollywood morality and insist that Catholics have as much right as anyone to speak our minds and to be shown the respect we and every man, woman and child deserves in a society that calls itself civilized. We also serve to remind others that no one can force them to capitulate with evil.

When the enemy attempts to dam the river in attempt to mitigate its force, i.e., to dry up the river to halt its influence, the river becomes a lake that attracts many visitors.

Weaponry

The world is one great battlefield,

With forces all arrayed;

If in my heart I do not yield,

I'll overcome some day.

- Charles Albert Tindley, 1901

Christian weapons are powerful because they leave room for the Holy Ghost to act in and through us. Faithful Catholics train in the art of spiritual battle by practicing

• love;
• hope, joy;
• a fearless faith born of a committed prayer life that realizes a solidarity with Christ in the spiritually and materially impoverished;
• truth, reason, critical thinking.

When the abominable Albigensian heresy raged on the European continent, robbing untold numbers of victims of their dignity as children of God, God raised up the Dominicans and others to counter that demonic Catharist ideology. Contrary to a popular narrative that attempts to cast the Church in the role of tyrant - which is not to say some (very few) people abused processes intended to effect reconciliation of the heretics - the Dominicans employed a measured, intelligent, persistent and well-reasoned approach to engage people to free them from an ideology no less dangerous to civilization than communism and the current wokeness fad.

In the wake of an incursion of a fraudulent and pernicious ideology that attempts to rob people of their inalienable rights, death always follows. Popes have tried to remind us, again and again, that the means do not justify the end. The prophetic letter Humane Vitae, for example, undiminished by mockery coming from adolescents in academia, pseudo-Catholic and non-Catholic alike, identified the bankruptcy of methods reputedly intended to foster social and economic progress - i.e., social justice - but would and did result in the destruction of the family, the loss of authentic manhood, the abuse of women, and that have metastasized into a full-on assault against pre-born humans.

No statement of the problem and no solution to it is acceptable which does violence to man's essential dignity; those who propose such solutions base them on an utterly materialistic conception of man himself and his life. The only possible solution to this question is one which envisages the social and economic progress both of individuals and of the whole of human society, and which respects and promotes true human values. Encyc. letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 447 [TPS VII, 331].

Humans can be terrifyingly efficient at killing our brothers and sisters to effect an outcome that purports to be a solution to people's woes. The French Revolution, the ISIS-Islamist revolution, the Russian Revolution, the National Socialist Revolution, the Communist revolution in China - all godless movements that devoured hundreds of millions of lives and enslaved countless others, all to some utopian end. Emphasis on 'end'.

The Ugandan Martyrs | St. Charles Lwanga and Companions

The Korean Martyrs

The English Martyrs

Saint Dominic versus the Cathars

Dominicans paying the price by confronting the Cathars

War inside the Church and war outside the Church

As Christians, we are or should be tougher on ourselves than on those outside the Church whose ignorance, willed or accidental, impedes them from accepting the message of Christ. For those of us who claim to be disciples of Christ and bearers of His Gospel, we may not put our hand to the plough and turn back (St. Luke 9:62). Our commitment to an ongoing and frequent examination of conscience illuminated by the Catechism is necessary if we are to avoid slipping into a casual religion, i.e., no religion.

Wheat and Tares

The threat of martyrdom has a way of emptying pews, of culling the Church of her lukewarm children. No one should take delight in the loss of a soul. Schadenfreude merits no place under the roof of a Christian home.

With few targets left, the Prince of Darkness has turned his attention to destroying human identity.

“Only the Catholic Church fully upholds women’s full dignity,” Burns said. “Why? Because of Jesus. Jesus is God. He came and restored the original equal relationship of men and women. Who is teaching us to how to grow up and become adult men and women of God? This is where Theology of the Body comes in.”

https://grandinmedia.ca/theology-of-the-body-offers-answers-to-hot-button-issues/

A critique of gender theory from the Holy See merits a thorough citation.

Critique

http://www.educatio.va/content/dam/cec/Documenti/19_0997_INGLESE.pdf

19. Nonetheless, real life situations present gender theory with some valid points of criticism. Gender theory (especially in its most radical forms) speaks of a gradual process of denaturalisation, that is a move away from nature and towards an absolute option for the decision of the feelings of the human subject. In this understanding of things, the view of both sexuality identity and the family become subject to the same ‘liquidity’ and ‘fluidity’ that characterize other aspects of post-modern culture, often founded on nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants, or momentary desires provoked by emotional impulses and the will of the individual, as opposed to anything based on the truths of existence.

20. The underlying presuppositions of these theories can be traced back to a dualistic anthropology, separating body (reduced to the status of inert matter) from human will, which itself becomes an absolute that can manipulate the body as it pleases. This combination of physicalism and voluntarism gives rise to relativism, in which everything that exists is of equal value and at the same time undifferentiated, without any real order or purpose. In all such theories, from the most moderate to the most radical, there is agreement that one’s gender ends up being viewed as more important than being of male or female sex. The effect of this move is chiefly to create a cultural and ideological revolution driven by relativism, and secondarily a juridical revolution, since such beliefs claim specific rights for the individual and across society.

21. In practice, the advocacy for the different identities often presents them as being of completely equal value compared to each other. This, however, actually negates the relevance of each one. This has particular importance for the question of sexual difference. In fact, the generic concept of “non-discrimination” often hides an ideology that denies the difference as well as natural reciprocity that exists between men and women. “Instead of combatting wrongful interpretations of sexual difference that would diminish the fundamental importance of that difference for human dignity, such a proposal would simply eliminate it by proposing procedures and practices that make it irrelevant for a person’s development and for human relationships. But the utopia of the ‘neuter’ eliminates both human dignity in sexual distinctiveness and the personal nature of the generation of new life”. The anthropological basis of the concept of family is thus emptied of meaning.

22. This ideology inspires educational programmes and legislative trends that promote ideas of personal identity and affective intimacy that make a radical break with the actual biological difference between male and female. Human identity is consigned to the individual’s choice, which can also change in time. These ideas are the expression of a widespread way of thinking and acting in today’s culture that confuses “genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily as if there were no truths, values and principles to provide guidance, and everything were possible and permissible”.

23. The Second Vatican Council, wishing to express the Church’s view of the human person, stated that “though made of body and soul, man is one. Through his bodily composition he gathers to himself the elements of the material world; thus they reach their crown through him, and through him raise their voice in free praise of the Creator”. Because of this dignity, “man is not wrong when he regards himself as superior to bodily concerns, and as more than a speck of nature or a nameless constituent of the city of man”. Therefore, “the expressions ‘the order of nature’ and ‘the order of biology’ must not be confused or regarded as identical, the ‘biological order’ does indeed mean the same as the order of nature but only in so far as this is accessible to methods of empirical and descriptive natural science, and not as a specific order of existence, with an obvious relationship to the First Cause, to God the Creator God”.

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

- Saint Augustine

Avoiding conflict is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, we must do all we can to master the dynamics of dialogue and, when permitted no other course of action, admit to defeat and leave matters entirely in God's hands. As Saint Teresa of Calcutta reminds us: God has called us not to be successful, but to be faithful.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. 1 Peter 3:15

But in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.

Choose your battles. Don't toss pearls to swine; don't give to dogs what is holy. Translation: a willfully ignorant person cannot receive wisdom if he is committed to his ignorance. If you persist in offering them wisdom, don't be surprised if they attempt to bite off your hand. Let your offer of conversation be known, then step back.

Not surviving but thriving.

Saint Michael's Norbertine Abbey rising in California is an example of the art of war. The community is waging the battle for souls by creating an oasis of beauty in a spiritual desert. This beauty is architectural, liturgical, spiritual, educational and material, encompassing all areas of life, as one would expect from the Norbertines. This oasis is a refuge of charity, a hospital for nourishing souls devastated by a society that is abandoning faith and reason.

Flee the world, embrace the desert.

Another project in its beginning stage is Veritatis Splendor, near Winona, Texas. A group has purchased 600 acres of land encompassing two small lakes. The group envisions a community wherein the Catholic Faith may be fully lived. This, too, is the art of war. Their mission is clear:

To protect, preserve, and proclaim the truths of the Christian Faith, as given to the Apostles by Jesus Christ.

The vision is awe inspiring:

Veritatis Splendor is a physical and spiritual home for Christians to protect, preserve, and proclaim all of the chief truths and teachings of Christendom. It is a community of true believers who work and live together to safeguard the deposit of faith through an uncompromising fidelity to Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

Veritatis Splendor includes a grand oratory and seven institutes of truth professing authenticity to liberal education, law, liberty, human rights, life, media and culture. Directors of the Institutes live and work in the community and, by virtue of the offices they hold, become missionaries in the world to transmit these values in a way that promotes truth, goodness, and beauty and, in so doing, restores Christ in civilization.

Of course, the desert need not be located in New Mexico or Arizona or Antarctica. The desert can be one's apartment wherein the prayer God inspires transforms a space into a temple, a shrine for spiritual communion with God. Wherever one's heart resides, there God waits to receive one into His intimate communion, His loving embrace. Kneeling beside one's bed to pray, and/or setting a home altar with a crucifix, Bible, candles and images of the saints before which one lays open one's heart - there is your desert. But - be mindful! - the devil tempted Christ in the desert. Ask the Holy Ghost to guide you and give you a wise spiritual director so that you may avoid the subtle manipulations of the ego, that easily inflated vacuum which is so prone to the devil's sickly sweet inflections.

Dare to be Different

5 - Mediocrity rarely attracts others. This goes for lukewarm Catholics and lukewarm institutions. Let's start with individuals. The average Catholic in the USA looks too much like everyone else. That is, we just aren't raising up enough world-changing disciples who are holy and on mission. Since this is the case, when a non-believer meets an average Catholic, there is nothing to be attracted to that stands out. The person lives like just about everyone else. On the flip of this reality are the rare few holy Catholic disciples who are intentional about loving others, sharing their faith organically, who initiate in relationships, and are not changed by the culture. These people are attractive to many others, because they live so differently. - Marcel LeJeune

One Lord, One Church

This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as "the pillar and mainstay of the truth". This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity. - Lumen Gentium 8

Another aspect of the art of war is authentic ecumenism. The personal ordinariates established by the Apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus by Pope Benedict XVI represent a fully realized ecumenism.

“I have no doubt that if you read the Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio) that actually the ordinariate is the first occasion where that vision of that document has been fulfilled,” Msgr Newton said.

“When people are looking for what ecumenism really is, here it is, in a living form.” - Emily Ng, The Catholic Leader 6SEP2021

The personal ordinariates represent the vanguard in reconnaissance and recruitment. What are, in a nutshell, the weapons of the ordinariates?

• doctrinal and catechetical integrity
• liturgical and devotional integrity
• a culture of authentic hospitality that welcomes the sinner, celebrates the dignity of persons created in the image and likeness of God, and calls us all to turn from sin and strive to live a life of virtue as children of a loving Father

People need to know the direction that leads to encountering Jesus Christ. The ordinariates embody truth, goodness and beauty. The liturgy - Divine Worship - is a clear window to God. We cannot win the war for souls if our compass points to the Enemy's camp. Those who risked leaving everything for the Lord - those brave Anglican souls whose former digs abandoned them for the zeitgeist - have brought to the Church what the founder of Opus Dei identified.

Abandonment to the will of God is the secret of happiness on earth. Say, then: meus cibus est, ut faciam voluntatem ejus, my food is to do his will. – The Way, No. 766

 

Stir up that fire of faith. Christ is not a figure that has passed. He is not a memory that is lost in history. He lives! 'Jesus Christus heri et hodie, ipse et in saecula', says Saint Paul. — 'Jesus Christ is the same to-day as he was yesterday and as he will be for ever'. – The Way, No. 584 

Deus lo vult!

And, relevant to this post, Saint Josemaria Escriva shouts the warrior's rallying cry.

God always wins. If you are his instrument, you too will win, because you will fight God’s battles. – The Forge, No. 989

We can offer people a sense of their true selves by inviting them to reflect on who they are. We do not start with confrontation but rather with that very invitation: tell me your story. Listen carefully and do not lose your own soul in trying to engage another. Listen for love, and for sorrow. Listen for what motivates them; acknowledge trials or challenges and shared experiences. If asked, be prepared to give reason for the hope that is within you (1 Peter 3:15)! And - be ready to point them in the direction of healing, health and wholeness.

Remember, too, the words of our Saviour:

Do not be anxious how or what you are to answer or what you are to say;  for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. - Saint Luke 12:11b,12 

Aelbert Cuyp - Saint Philip Baptising the Ethiopian Eunuch, ca 1655

Saint Phillip the Evangelist is our model to answer the call of God to journey with another. Ask the Father to send you His Spirit, in Jesus' Name, to enlighten your mind and guide all conversation into the Truth, into goodness and beauty, for the sake of souls.

Acts 8:26-39

But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert road. And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this:

“As a sheep led to the slaughter

or a lamb before its shearer is dumb,

so he opens not his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken up from the earth.”

And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about some one else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught up Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

For the Church is compelled by the Holy Spirit to do her part that God's plan may be fully realized, whereby He has constituted Christ as the source of salvation for the whole world. - Lumen Gentium 17 

Hit the Streets

A necessary component of evangelization is, of course, communication. Specifically, communications: print media, web media, etc. With perhaps a few dodgy exceptions, Catholic professionals are among the best communicators in the world, far surpassing the credibility of their secular counterparts regarding fact-based reporting. The secular media has lost the ability to meet people in the streets, to investigate and report instead of promoting an agenda aimed first at selling the news.

Insightful voices have long expressed concern about the risk that original investigative reporting in newspapers and television, radio and web newscasts is being replaced by a reportage that adheres to a standard, often tendentious narrative. This approach is less and less capable of grasping the truth of things and the concrete lives of people, much less the more serious social phenomena or positive movements at the grass roots level. The crisis of the publishing industry risks leading to a reportage created in newsrooms, in front of personal or company computers and on social networks, without ever “hitting the streets”, meeting people face to face to research stories or to verify certain situations first hand.

Nothing replaces seeing things at first hand

In communications, nothing can ever completely replace seeing things in person. Some things can only be learned through first-hand experience. We do not communicate merely with words, but with our eyes, the tone of our voice and our gestures. Jesus’ attractiveness to those who met him depended on the truth of his preaching; yet the effectiveness of what he said was inseparable from how he looked at others, from how he acted towards them, and even from his silence. The disciples not only listened to his words; they watched him speak. Indeed in him – the incarnate Logos – the Word took on a face; the invisible God let himself be seen, heard and touched, as John himself tells us (cf. 1 Jn 1:1-3). The word is effective only if it is “seen”, only if it engages us in experience, in dialogue. For this reason, the invitation to “come and see” was, and continues to be, essential.

- His Holiness Pope Francis, Message for the 2021 World Communications Day

Catholic bloggers, exposed to ideas both on and off the internet, mingling with their fellow parishioners as we do and discovering what occupies their/our attention, are among those credible witnesses to "life on the streets". Of course, not all bloggers write about the news. They often write about topics that capture their imagination and about which they have a passion. If they are Catholic bloggers, they are most often dependent on Catholic media for substance about which they may comment upon and provide a perspective, informed or otherwise. Thankfully, as mentioned, the Catholic media are well-informed, reliable witnesses.

Stay on Message

The challenge is to remain honest, passionate about the truth.

Nothing replaces good old fashion Journalism 101 which back in the day meant a reporter would actually “hit the streets”, as the statement describes, and spend time with those sources closest to the scene to not only verify the facts, but to also get a better understanding of how those sources and others close to the story are impacted and what it might mean for the rest of us. - Teresa Tomeo, Catholic World Report

Two Arms

To arms! Two arms! How willing are we to join the mission of Christ Who laid down His life for us that we might live? Do we pray, do we stay close to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist? For anyone who knows the comfort of Jesus' Presence in their lives, gratitude envelops and drives the heart to constantly praise Him and share joy with others. We must embrace daily the Cross with both arms, which is to say fully in word and deed, and allow the image - the Presence - of the Crucified Jesus to imprint Himself on our souls.

1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."

Josh Applegate

The Source and Summit

The greatest "weapon" against the darkness is the Eucharist, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There are many profound reasons why the Church refers to the Holy Eucharist as the source and summit of the Christian life (Lumen Gentium, no. 11; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1324). 

What Do We Mean By "Source and Summit"?

To say the Eucharist is the "source and summit of Christian spirituality" means at least two things. First, that Christian spirituality flows from the Eucharist as its source, the way light streams forth from the sun. And second, that Christian spirituality is supremely realized in and ordered to the Eucharist as its summit or highpoint – that to which all of our actions should ultimately be directed. [...]

These two dimensions of the Eucharist – its being both the "source" and "summit" of Christian spirituality – reveal how the Eucharist, being Christ Himself, brings God and man together in a saving dialogue, a mutually giving and receiving relationship. In short, in a covenant of love. The Eucharist is at once the Father's gift of Himself in Christ to us and, through Christ, our offering of Christ and, with Him, of ourselves – our minds and hearts, our daily lives – to the Father.

As the source of Christian spirituality, the Eucharist revealed that our salvation begins with God, not ourselves. God offers Himself to man in Christ first. At the same time, as the summit of Christian spirituality, the Eucharist is man's supreme, grace-enabled, freely given offering of himself back to God through Jesus Christ, our high priest, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The union or intimate, personal fellowship between God and man realized through God's gift of Himself to man and man's faithful response, we call communion.

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The Eucharist is the source of grace in a number of ways. First, the Eucharist is Christ Himself, the Author of grace. Other sacraments are actions of Christ, to be sure, but only the Eucharist is Christ Himself, under the "appearances" of bread and wine (CCC, nos. 1324, 1373-1381).

A second way the Eucharist is the source of grace is as the sacramental re-presentation of Christ's saving Sacrifice on the cross. Note it is the sacramental re-presentation of Christ's once for all Sacrifice on the cross, not merely a representation or a ritual re-enactment of it (CCC, nos. 1362-1367).

On Calvary, Christ offered Himself to the Father in the Spirit for our salvation. This happened once for all historically - Christ does not die again at Mass. In the Eucharist, however, this same Sacrifice of Christ, made once for all historically, is present here and now sacramentally, and celebrated on the altar. Why can we say that? Because the same Christ who was both priest who offered and victim who was offered is present here and now. Christ is present in heaven as our high priest and our offering for sin (Heb. 8:1-3; 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2), but He is also on our earthly altars as the Eucharist. In this way, the "work of our redemption is accomplished" through His Eucharistic offering (Lumen Gentium, no. 3), and fruits of Christ's unique Sacrifice are applied to us here and now (CCC, no, 1366).

A third way the Eucharist is the source of grace is as the Church's sacrifice. The Eucharist is the Church's sacrifice because it is foremost the Sacrifice of Christ, Bridegroom of the Church, who is "one-flesh" with the Church (Ephesians 5:21-32).[2] In other words, the Eucharist is the Church's offering by virtue of her "spousal" union with Christ.

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A fourth way the Eucharist is the source of grace is as a source of repentance.

The last point is especially important with respect to the spiritual life. Christian spirituality consists of two aspects, a negative one – repentance from sin and purgation of the attachment to sin – and a positive one – growth in the Christian life of faith, hope and charity. The Eucharist prepares us for the positive dimension of Christian living by helping us undertake the negative aspect – rooting out sin from our lives through repentance and purgation. [...]

The Eucharist as the Source of Growth in Faith, Hope and Charity

In addition to being the "source" of Christian spirituality because it is a "source" of grace, the Eucharist also helps us grow in the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. These virtues are essential to the spiritual life because they "dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity" (CCC, no. 1812). They are called theological because they direct us to God. We might say that they are the three dimensions – the height, width and depth – in which the Christian life is lived. [...]

The Source of Faith

Faith is the virtue by which we entrust ourselves-mind and will-to God, believing what He has revealed because of who He is (CCC, nos. 143, 1814). How is the Eucharist the source of faith? Like all the sacraments (CCC, no. 1123), the Eucharist is a sign which instructs us. It nourishes and strengthens our faith by what it signifies: the wisdom, love and power of God manifested to us by Christ in His Real Presence and in His Sacrifice. In this respect, the Eucharist is the sacramental "sign of the covenant" par excellence, beckoning us to enter into communion with God by accepting in faith God's saving deeds on our behalf – supremely, the death and resurrection of His Son. The Eucharist should move us to deeper faith by reminding us what God has in fact done for us: manifesting His trustworthiness. [...]

The Source of Hope

The Eucharist is also the source of hope. "Hope," the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, "is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit" (no. 1817). The basis of this hope is the salvation won by the death and resurrection of Christ and the gift of His Holy Spirit poured out in our hearts (cf. Romans 5:5-11; 8:23-25; Titus 3:6-7), which is sacramentally present in the Eucharist. [...]

The Source of Charity

Finally, the Eucharist is the source of charity. As Pope John Paul II wrote: "Christian life is expressed in the fulfilling of the greatest commandment, that is to say, in the love of God and neighbor, and this love finds its source in the blessed Sacrament, which is commonly called the sacrament of love. The Eucharist signifies this charity, and therefore recalls it, makes it present and at the same time brings it about" (Dominicae Cenae, no. 5). [...]