Spiritual Deformation and Redemption

Deformation

The Four Ds that frequently kidnap and imprison people are destitution, depression, despair and death.

1. Destitution. Here is meant moral depravity, i.e., a heart robbed of charity, a life mired in self indulgence. Hollywood values, one might say.
2. Depression. Do not read here the malady of the spirit that afflicts someone through no fault of their own. Rather, a spiritual vacuum, the rotten fruit of destitution. An habitual state where one's life is burdened with doubt, and a mind is so clouded by or enamoured in fantasy that an appreciation of reality is practically impossible. Typically, the sin-sick person self-medicates in an attempt to find relief. Only a crisis of epic proportions might shake one enough to motivate a change away from one's investment in sinful pursuits and dead-end (and often deadly) hobbies.
3. Despair. Hopelessness. Personal integrity is lost. Emotional and intellectual mediocrity has set in. Answerless questions persist. Man is abandoned to false gods, and those gods have abandoned him.
4. Death. Spiritual and physical decline. The consequences of sin.

There are churchmen promoting a cozy alliance with the Four Ds.

We want to say to the Cardinal McElroys of the world those words recently published by Dr. John M. Grondelski, former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey:

If McElroy wants a different sexual ethic, one that does not engender guilt because of “objectively grave sins outside of marriage,” he’s welcome to advocate for it. But he should at least admit what he wants is not Catholic.

How is it that senior ecclesiastics with no small amount of theological training miss the obvious, i.e., the departures from the Gospel for which they shamelessly advocate? Pride, egotism, a love of power and a misguided compassion can blind one to the morbidity that the embrace of the modern gods (that are the demons of yesterday) effects in their followers.

Perhaps Lent should be a time of casting aside stupid and dangerous ideologies masquerading as theology?

It's ironic that as much as people want freedom, happiness and meaning, they frequently dive into cesspools of confusion and turpitude while avoiding the promise of hope, joy and freedom that Jesus offers in and through His Church. It doesn't help when supposed disciples of Jesus sound more like apologists for worldly agendas than disciples of Jesus Christ.

Redemption

The Four Gs

1. Grace. Everything is possible with God (St Matthew 19:26). Gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224–1274). Grace does not destroy nature, but fulfills its potential (Summa Theologiae (ST) I, 1, 8 ad 2). The world, the flesh and the devil would have us trapped in various illusions, in promises of satisfaction. Contrary to many (most?) contemporary happiness delivery systems that purport to help one achieve bliss or whathaveyou, Christianity teaches us the reality of sin and redemption, of true love. Not cheap love. Love has a cost - self sacrifice. Our eternal happiness is not the product of what we ourselves imagine or manufacture. Rather, our cooperation with God allows us to participate in the love of Jesus. Jesus - do remember! - died on the cross for love of us, to restore man's relationship with God.
2. Goodwill. Charity, sacrificial love for the sake of the salvation of others, is commonly misunderstood. People think charity means giving cash to the poor. Well, yes - and more. Charity - caritas - is the love Jesus calls us to for the salvation of souls. 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
3. Goodness. Holiness. Grafted to the will of God, which requires the honesty to confront sin in one's life and to seek the grace to reject sin and embrace virtue, we become an icon of Jesus' love in the world. The asceticism to which all Catholics is called is that of a pure heart that reaches out in service (St Matthew Chapter 5). The Church has received from the Biblical library the practices through which God manifests His love for human beings. The corporal works of mercy are: to feed the hungry; to give drink to the thirsty; to clothe the naked; to harbour the harbourless; to visit the sick; to ransom the captive; to bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are: to instruct the ignorant; to counsel the doubtful; to admonish sinners; to bear wrongs patiently; to forgive offences willingly; to comfort the afflicted; to pray for the living and the dead.
4. Guidance. Implied in the above points is the willingness to be guided. St John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (all things: After Jesus has gone to his Father, the Holy Spirit will complete his revelation to the world. RSVCE) The willingness to be corrected, to submit oneself to fraternal correction, is essential for the disciple of Jesus Christ.