A Midsummer's Lent: The Rise And Fall Of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.

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Dante lost in the dark forest enters hell.
Dante Alighieri's Inferno Canto 1 illustrated by Gustave Doré in 1861.

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has lived a contentious life. He has used his position in government to berate people of goodwill and to pound his opponents into submission. Despite his lauding of bipartisanship, he has often been anything but a cooperative and civil man. To say that his political actions reveal fleeting convictions and self-interest is an understatement. His support for anti-life policies has rendered practically meaningless his claims that he is a devout Catholic. His confused witness is a scandal for Catholics who strive to keep the Faith in a society made hostile by the shameful behaviour of the Bidens, Pelosis, Kerrys and others. In a word, Joseph Biden is a charlatan. Where is the honesty, humility and contrition of a Christian?

Psalm 11:4-7 | The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates him that loves violence. On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

Defying predictable pressure from Democrats to skew the narrative and spin Biden's performance in last week's Presidential Debate, co-host Jake Tapper accurately observed that Biden's performance in the debate was disastrous for Biden and his party.

Tapper was one of the two moderators of last week's debate. In his opening monologue on “The Lead,” the host warned of a “discernible pattern of Democratic officials seemingly trying to convince you, the public, to not believe what you saw and what you heard with your eyes and with your ears on Thursday night." Such efforts, Tapper said, amount to blatant lies.

“Democratic officials have tried to spin this in many way,” he said. “They said President Biden just had a cold, they said it was just one off night akin to when President Obama in 2012 was rusty and seemed a little huffy. But behind the scenes, make no mistake, most Democratic officials witnessed the same shocking spectacle that you did.”

Biden’s difficulty “articulating his basic thoughts” at the debate has begun to reveal dystopian thought-control practices among major political leaders, according to Tapper. | NBC/Jackson Walker

Joseph Biden does not have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president. So saith 72% of registered voters. Biden's former allies, attempting damage control, are scrambling to prop up their hold on power with more than a few suggesting that Biden must be replaced. Short of Biden's complete incapacitation, which cannot be ruled out given his apparent accelerating downward cognitive slide, the Democrat clan is stuck with Joseph.

Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris.

A man who has lived his life as an opportunist and scoundrel should not expect a great deal of sympathy in this last hour of his approaching departure. Biden's mind, once a dagger slicing into peers in the political colosseum, is now a dull blade. Biden has attained his reward, and so he is being brought low. His decline mirrors the societal degradation to which he has so frequently contributed ideological energy. Should we continue to pray for Joseph Biden? Yes, of course. May God grant him the grace to turn toward Him. May Joseph have a change of heart and, with what time is left to him on this earth, may he publicly renounce all the evil which he has done that has contributed to the rise of a culture of death.

Like Biden, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not protected inalienable rights, especially the right to life. Trudeau's generation has failed the principle test for any leader, i.e., the responsibility to defend the weakest among us. Canadian society is rife with mental illness, and those suffering most are being driven closer to self annihilation by cruel ideologies fostered by Trudeau and members of his political party, their policies that rob people of innocence, resilience and recovery.

America and Canada stand at a crossroad. Quo tendimus? The choice is not principally about turning to the 'left' nor to the 'right'. The matter concerns a decision to turn toward God, toward faith and reason, or a decision to turn away from God towards chaos and cruelty. The direction that a nation takes begins with one person - you, the citizen. Quo tendis?

Conscience

Every Catholic has a profound duty to form and align his conscience with the truth, goodness and beauty of God. Informing one's conscience is an ongoing lifelong process. There are several key ways to inform and form one's conscience: studying God's Word; examining our actions in light of Christ's example; and allowing the Holy Spirit and the teaching of the Church to guide us in making sound moral judgments that conform to the truth.

Assimilate the Word of God. The Word of God, as revealed in Scripture and the teachings of the Church, is the primary light that guides the formation of conscience. We must study and assimilate the Word of God through faith, prayer, and putting it into practice.

Examine conscience before the Cross. Examining our conscience in the light of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross helps us recognize the moral quality of our actions and discern good from evil.

Be assisted by the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as wisdom and understanding, aid us in forming our conscience rightly.

Seek guidance from others. The witness or advice of others, especially the authoritative teaching of the Church, can guide us in making sound moral judgments.

Strive for a well-formed conscience. A well-formed conscience is "upright and truthful" and "formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator." This requires a serious effort to inform our conscience.

Resist negative influences. We must be vigilant against the negative influences of sin and the distortions of the modern world that can lead us astray from the truth. The education of conscience is essential to overcome these challenges.

Recognize conscience as the "voice of God". Conscience is not merely a personal opinion, but the echo of God's voice in the human heart, calling us to do good and avoid evil. Forming our conscience means aligning it with this divine law.

References
  1. To the members of the Pontifical Academy for Life (February 24, 2007)
  2. Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship 17
  3. To the Bishops of the Church in the States of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas (U.S.A.) on their "ad Limina" visit (June 27, 1998) 4
  4. CCC 1785
  5. CCC 1783
  6. Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church: Christ – Our Pascha 751
  7. Dominum et vivificantem 43
  8. Reconciliatio et Paenitentia 26
  9. The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality: Guidelines for Education Within the Family 95
  10. Final declaration by the 13th General Assembly and the International Congress on "The Christian conscience in support of the right to life" (March 15, 2007) 3

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