John J. Hughes was the first Archbishop of New York. He wasn't a man to be trifled with, hence the nickname "Dagger John". When faced with the prospect of Nativist violence against his Cathedral, he called upon the faithful to surround it, with the intent to protect the Cathedral with force should the Nativists decide to try an burn it down--their original plan. They changed their minds when faced with the prospect of hundreds of Ctholics willing to fight them for their rights and dignity.
I wonder what his counsel would be today, in the face of the erosion of Religious Liberty by the Executive Branch of the Government. I would love to hear it.
I also wonder what would happen if the Archbishop of New York were to call upon the faithful to defend the Cathedral in the face of a mob bent upon direct action against the church today. I don't think it would go as well. Part of that is simple social demographics. The Catholic Church in new York is now much, much more diverse ethnically, economically and politically than it was in the 1840s. part of it is the disintegration of the Catholic Church as a community. In the 1800s we were riven by a great divide, a divide between German and Irish immigrants, held together by obedience to the Bishops and the Pope. Now we are riven by many more divides, between Hispanic (and within the Hispanic communities between different nations of origin), between Radical Traditionalists, between Modernizers, between Modernists, between Feminists and between Familialists. We are not very unified, despite our emphasis on Communio. I think what would happen is a bunch of middle aged Knight of Columbus would show up. and a few young men with them. Then there would be an attempt to to occupy the sanctuary by greying overweight lesbian nuns in the name of "peace and justice" crying out for women's ordination and counseling pacifism in the face of oppression. Outside there would be folks from groups like "Catholics United" screaming that it was high time, with some nuns carrying banners. The student body from Stuebenville would gather for prayers, while those student bodies of schools like Kingdom College would be there, some working with lawyers and others on the line. It would be a disorganized circus with no one acknowledging as single,central authority.
Face it--our Bishops can't get us all to stand up or kneel down at the same time. They can't even get us to recite the words of the liturgy correctly in a unified manner. It's a crying shame, and it's the end result of about 45 years of do-your-own-thing Catholicism.
We have somehow decided that the precious unity in the Body of Christ that we were supernaturally entered into at Baptism is not as important as our separate, special interests. We are not supposed to refer to ourselves as "Irish-Catholics", "Charismatic-Catholics", "Traditional-Catholics". We are supposed to refer to ourselves as Catholics. But due to the idea that tradition and obedience are divisive, and that we need to soft sell or omit those parts of the faith that are difficult, or might hurt someones feelings, we have dissolved our own unity. Even though Our Lord prayed that we might all be one, we have worked very hard to splinter ourselves into factions. What's worse, each faction (and here I leave out those who are schismatic or heretical) has sought to make their particular ideas, or even their Charisms, the norm for the Church Universal.
We have lost sight of one of the most beautiful things about Catholicism--that we are One Body in Christ, and each of us is a member of that Body. A toe is not a nose, yet a body has both. We were no longer to be content with ourselves as threads in a wondrous tapestry of great beauty, woven from our lives and concerns to ornament the Temple of the Lord. In deciding that Renewal was code for Reform, we all decided to reform the Church into what we wanted it to be, not what Christ founded it to be. Each faction tried very very hard to make itself the norm for everyone. I remember in the 70s when Charismatics worked very hard to dominate liturgical and prayer ministries in their parishes, and I remember people leaving those parishes and going to others. I remember 'social justice' people working very hard to take over Religious Education in their parishes, and people pulling their kids out. I remember how all of us sought to dominate the discourse in our communities, and to silence others. The result was a dumbing down, a bland porridge meant to be inoffensive to all of us. A castrated faith that satisfied none. Now our churches are empty, because we didn't want to exercise the unity that is our birth right through Baptism..
Divide and Conquer is one of the soundest strategic maxims ever. And now we are well divided poised to be defeated in detail. already swaths of us are in defeat, for all practical purposes. Many of us have bought off on the World, and in so doing have rejected the Gospel. Many of us are ready to go along with the directives of the State at the expense of basic morality, in the name of "justice" or "progress" or "diversity" or what have you.
Faced with the reality of a government that is trying to force us into material cooperation with evil (is there anything more emblematic of material than money?) by paying for sterilizations, abortions and contraception, we need more than anything to be unified in the face of this. Yet we are not. Faced with the Camel's Nose under the tent, already some factions are arguing that it's not a Camel's Nose, while other are arguing that the Camel is our friend. Some are even saying that the Camel will save us from the Bishops and the Pope.
Now is the time when we need to stick tight to our bishops, and it is a time for obedience. If your bishop isn't exactly orthodox, or a cooperator with the Statists who seek to dissolve our Religious Liberty in pursuit of their social and political agenda, do not rebel against him, rather write to him, a well researched letter, citing good sources to encourage him to unite against our emergent oppressor. The same with your pastor. And do not down shout or become filled with wrath, but rather try very hard to persuade. But above all, value Unity in the Mystical Body of Christ, and offer prayers and penance for this.
The predicament we find ourselves in is the direct fruit of our disunity and disobedience.
I wonder what his counsel would be today, in the face of the erosion of Religious Liberty by the Executive Branch of the Government. I would love to hear it.
I also wonder what would happen if the Archbishop of New York were to call upon the faithful to defend the Cathedral in the face of a mob bent upon direct action against the church today. I don't think it would go as well. Part of that is simple social demographics. The Catholic Church in new York is now much, much more diverse ethnically, economically and politically than it was in the 1840s. part of it is the disintegration of the Catholic Church as a community. In the 1800s we were riven by a great divide, a divide between German and Irish immigrants, held together by obedience to the Bishops and the Pope. Now we are riven by many more divides, between Hispanic (and within the Hispanic communities between different nations of origin), between Radical Traditionalists, between Modernizers, between Modernists, between Feminists and between Familialists. We are not very unified, despite our emphasis on Communio. I think what would happen is a bunch of middle aged Knight of Columbus would show up. and a few young men with them. Then there would be an attempt to to occupy the sanctuary by greying overweight lesbian nuns in the name of "peace and justice" crying out for women's ordination and counseling pacifism in the face of oppression. Outside there would be folks from groups like "Catholics United" screaming that it was high time, with some nuns carrying banners. The student body from Stuebenville would gather for prayers, while those student bodies of schools like Kingdom College would be there, some working with lawyers and others on the line. It would be a disorganized circus with no one acknowledging as single,central authority.
Face it--our Bishops can't get us all to stand up or kneel down at the same time. They can't even get us to recite the words of the liturgy correctly in a unified manner. It's a crying shame, and it's the end result of about 45 years of do-your-own-thing Catholicism.
We have somehow decided that the precious unity in the Body of Christ that we were supernaturally entered into at Baptism is not as important as our separate, special interests. We are not supposed to refer to ourselves as "Irish-Catholics", "Charismatic-Catholics", "Traditional-Catholics". We are supposed to refer to ourselves as Catholics. But due to the idea that tradition and obedience are divisive, and that we need to soft sell or omit those parts of the faith that are difficult, or might hurt someones feelings, we have dissolved our own unity. Even though Our Lord prayed that we might all be one, we have worked very hard to splinter ourselves into factions. What's worse, each faction (and here I leave out those who are schismatic or heretical) has sought to make their particular ideas, or even their Charisms, the norm for the Church Universal.
We have lost sight of one of the most beautiful things about Catholicism--that we are One Body in Christ, and each of us is a member of that Body. A toe is not a nose, yet a body has both. We were no longer to be content with ourselves as threads in a wondrous tapestry of great beauty, woven from our lives and concerns to ornament the Temple of the Lord. In deciding that Renewal was code for Reform, we all decided to reform the Church into what we wanted it to be, not what Christ founded it to be. Each faction tried very very hard to make itself the norm for everyone. I remember in the 70s when Charismatics worked very hard to dominate liturgical and prayer ministries in their parishes, and I remember people leaving those parishes and going to others. I remember 'social justice' people working very hard to take over Religious Education in their parishes, and people pulling their kids out. I remember how all of us sought to dominate the discourse in our communities, and to silence others. The result was a dumbing down, a bland porridge meant to be inoffensive to all of us. A castrated faith that satisfied none. Now our churches are empty, because we didn't want to exercise the unity that is our birth right through Baptism..
Divide and Conquer is one of the soundest strategic maxims ever. And now we are well divided poised to be defeated in detail. already swaths of us are in defeat, for all practical purposes. Many of us have bought off on the World, and in so doing have rejected the Gospel. Many of us are ready to go along with the directives of the State at the expense of basic morality, in the name of "justice" or "progress" or "diversity" or what have you.
Faced with the reality of a government that is trying to force us into material cooperation with evil (is there anything more emblematic of material than money?) by paying for sterilizations, abortions and contraception, we need more than anything to be unified in the face of this. Yet we are not. Faced with the Camel's Nose under the tent, already some factions are arguing that it's not a Camel's Nose, while other are arguing that the Camel is our friend. Some are even saying that the Camel will save us from the Bishops and the Pope.
Now is the time when we need to stick tight to our bishops, and it is a time for obedience. If your bishop isn't exactly orthodox, or a cooperator with the Statists who seek to dissolve our Religious Liberty in pursuit of their social and political agenda, do not rebel against him, rather write to him, a well researched letter, citing good sources to encourage him to unite against our emergent oppressor. The same with your pastor. And do not down shout or become filled with wrath, but rather try very hard to persuade. But above all, value Unity in the Mystical Body of Christ, and offer prayers and penance for this.
The predicament we find ourselves in is the direct fruit of our disunity and disobedience.
1 comments:
If the actions of our government and self-styled "elites" continue as they have, we'll see a great falling away of the lukewarm amongst us. Unfortunately I believe that will be a majority.
But at the same time I think we'll see a growing cohesion amongst whoever is left. Persecution is a wonderfully unifying force, Church history shows that.
Will this mean a leaner, more Christ-centered Church? I hope so and I pray to have the guts and integrity to counted in that Body.
May God's will be done.
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