Two ways: Catholic or ?

There are two types of Catholics, two ways of being Catholic. Either we:

1. measure our lives against the standard of the Gospel and, with God's grace, cooperate with God to change our lives to continually and habitually conform to His will; or...
2. we subject the Gospel to the standard of our (disordered) lives, dispense with those divinely revealed teachings that we find offensive, and then persist in ignorance and sin.

In the case of the former, a lifegiving relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church, and growth in holiness, is possible. In the case of the latter, we invent a god and church that is comfortable to us, and we never have to concern ourselves with conforming to any objective standard of holiness - or way of being human that accords with the Gospel - nor do we worry that we have sinned and fall short of God's design for man. Trapped in that isolating circus of egoism, there is no need to repent nor is there any need for God's mercy.

Sadly - very sadly - we see a battle for souls playing out at the heart of the Church between factions that represent one of the two 'ways' described above. We have cardinals that sound like the devil's patsies, or "inclusive" Episcopalians, and others like Cardinal Mueller, for example, who in their justified puzzlement wonder aloud at the 'Synod On Synodality' types - pro 'doctrine by vote' types? - that are repeating and embracing the well-intentioned though highly erroneous mental and spiritual gymnastics of mainline protestants over the past 60 years. Those same mental gymnasts - mainline Protestant communities - painted themselves into a theological corner that has left them far-less-than Christian in name and practice. Do we Catholics really want to embrace the same untenable approaches to ecclesiological design and operation as those communities that, though short of the fullness of Catholic Christianity, once upon a time professed a faith that impelled them toward Catholic unity in the truth, yet have traded what little they had for something even less than the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Of course, as this attempt at looking fair and balanced makes clear, everybody is not really being “listened” to. Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass – and are actually faithful – have been roughly treated, some might argue excluded. LGBTQ+ “Catholics,” meanwhile, have been treated with kid gloves, and – to be (unbrutally) frank – can only by an abuse of terms be deemed “faithful.” - Robert Royal, The Catholic Thing

[...]

It bears repeating that if the whole Jewish-Christian tradition was mistaken about one of the earliest Biblical statements of what we human beings are – prominent figures such as Fr. James Martin S.J. have raised that possibility – almost everything is then up for grabs, including whether God has spoken in Scripture and Tradition. Sadly, as a result, it’s even led many these days, who find their identities in sexuality, to wonder whether He even exists. - ibid.

There should be no surprise that, after the past 60 years of a mindless rebellion against authority by self indulgent agnostics, a religion of disordered sexualities and confused sexual identities has emerged and seeks to fill the void. Synods that hoist the banner of me-myself-and-I will witness that (pride) flag wave in the wind for a time, but also watch it bend the pole to the ground away from heaven.

Representatives of the Watchtower crew - aka Jehovah's Witnesses - are back on the street with their nifty collapsable signs, neatly attired, and ready to corral the lost into their heresy. Meanwhile, Catholics who bear the one true religion of God continue to struggle with an identity crisis. To be more accurate, many Catholics are struggling with those struggling with an identity crisis. That is, we are struggling with an identity crisis largely imposed upon us by ideologues who, to quote Cardinal Mueller, have the intention to substitute their own subjective ideas, against a revealed reality of Jesus Christ. . .the [path to the] destruction of the Catholic Church.”

For those of us so blessed to be in solidly Catholic communities, our job is to mobilize for mission. The reason the gates of hell will not stand against the Catholic Church is because Catholics allow themselves to be inspired and motivated to action by the Holy Ghost, grafted to the truth of the Gospel, and unfailingly faithful to Tradition. Which is to say, we are - like Mary and John at the feet of Jesus hung upon the Cross - there kneeling at the feet of our crucified Master for love of Him, prepared to follow Him to the same end. The good news? We will rise with Him.

Stat Crux dum volvitur orbis

So then, how do we frostbitten souls engage and call others to repentance who wander in the fog of secular ideology imported into the Church? We pray! - the Rosary, the Saint Michael Prayer, attend Mass. Pray the Office. Form sodalities of prayer that bring people to encounter sound catechesis. Practice virtue. Love Jesus Christ. Be ready to respond to the voice of God. When God calls you to launch into the deep - dive in! Do not be afraid. Pray for God's mercy. Give thanks for God's blessings. Serve Jesus in the poorest of the poor.

Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ. To His saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization, and development. - Pope Saint John Paul II