Synod. Suspension. Bridge.

[ 4 minute read ]

How many times do we need to hear from well-informed pundits about the loss of a sense of the sacred before we get up off our couches and dive deeply into the Faith to worship God in spirit and in truth? Quite often, when one is attuned to those websites that challenge one to think with the Church of the ages, the Church of the sainted brethren.

Those who most need to hear about the need for rehabilitation - because they are the principal protags massaging theological and liturgical nonsense into the flesh of unsuspecting Catholics - generally aren't disposed to taking ownership for their hefty contributions to the massive drift from the Apostolic Faith. That is not to say that the Church is doomed, or wrecked or whatever. It is enough to say that the Church is hurting due to the sins of her sons and daughters, especially the sins of those offspring who want the Church to be the "Church-of-Today" or the "Church-of-Me". So then, we must care for Holy Mother Church and her sacred Liturgy.

Crisis

People who are complacent often respond when they are clubbed about the head by the awareness that they (we, all of us) are mortal, and that they ... are not in control. A fundamental shift in awareness is often preceded by the pain associated with confronting the truth, the truth about oneself, one's family life and one's work-a-day world. A synod of the Church should be no less subject to intense scrutiny, and viewed through the lens of the Holy Gospel, the lens of truth, goodness and beauty.

What if, behind the closed doors of the Synod on Synodality - when the time comes, that is - and the media is put out to pasture in the piazza to speculate, the Synod is interrupted and a great unease pierces the gathering?

He shall not survive his assembly.

King takes bishop.

The standard bearer is dismissed.

In this era of constant appropriations of power and authority, of liturgical foolishness, abuse and of poor stewardship by ordained sons of the Church, it would seem that only a divine intervention of epic proportions can reorient the Church to its intended course. Truth be told, in the history of the Church there have too many occasions when the Barque of Peter has veered dangerously close to the shoals of worldly madness, only to be redirected by the hand of God on the tiller of truth and holiness.

For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness. - 1 Corinthians 3:19

We stand before the throne of God seeking wisdom and consolation. God opens His arms to save as many souls as possible. How many will respond to His initiative?

Popes come and go. Some have wreaked massive damage upon the Church. A few have been great - Leo, Nicholas and Gregory. John Paul II? Many have been naive. Many have been wise and able shepherds. Others have been corrupt, ruled by their disordered passions, or timid and indecisive.

The point of this post is to provide a reminder that, even though there is much tension in the Church, God is close to us. Are you close to God? If you truly are close to God, then you have nothing to fear.

Saint Paul reminds us:

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! - 1 Corinthians 9:16

Not some cheap imitation, but the gospel!

The saints remind us that we must pray, confess our sins, do penance, serve Christ in the poor, nurture loving families and keep the commandments of Christ. Worship God in the beauty of holiness. Or, do you prefer to worship some caricature of God in a liturgy that is so filled with trite encumbrances that the numbness induced by so doing is perfectly suitable to your personal comfort and satisfaction? Are you stuck on some chimera of inclusivity, diversity and equity that pretends at the divine and gives that inclination toward self righteousness in you a boost to help you fit in?

When priests and bishops and popes (and powerful laymen) go off their rockers fear not, and tarry not in anger nor despair. Jesus is truly present to us as he was present to the souls he liberated from the dead when he descended to the dead, as the Creed states. For our part, we must model Christian virtue, always worshipping the Lord in the beauty of holiness. We must be the change the Church needs in order to more effectively reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is never enough to employ clever strategies to sell the Faith, as if the Faith needs "selling". The proof of discipleship is an abiding commitment to serving Jesus in those most in need of His mercy. People must be enticed into relationship with God by the real and saving message of Jesus. We must introduce people to Jesus living among us, the same Jesus Who gave His life for the salvation of souls. And so, we too must give our lives for the salvation of others. We must seek the support of the Holy Ghost to transform our hearts, to configure our hearts to the commandments of Jesus so that He may live in us and we in Him.