I have at least one draft of a post open here to amplify and react to something written by Peter Kwasniewski, but I have to pause in order to make sure everyone I can reach reads his magnificent response to an anonymous seminarian's heartfelt question, Is There Any Reason I Should Remain Catholic?
The original lament is not specific to one pursuing the priesthood, by any means. As someone who listened to and read everything my husband, Phil Lawler, said and wrote about the liturgical and doctrinal crisis in the Church, as well as the abuse scandal (beginning in the early 90s as a real journalistic inquiry, after more than a decade of nameless suspicions); as someone who has read hundreds and possibly thousands of emails from Fr. Paul Mankowski and Phil to our group of friends, piling on examples and evidence of these dire (and connected) scandals, and contributed a few stories myself to the mix -- the sick and gut-wrenching trail of tears, most of which never even made it into the annals; as someone who strove to rescue a boy from the clutches of a priest fawned over by many, I too have had my share of anguish over my faith.
Call me naive, but I can remember a night in the early 2000s when I realized with a deep shock that our own bishops simply do not believe in Jesus Christ. They are, as a priest friend memorably preached, "functional atheists." I remember feeling the fool -- utterly betrayed, as if I had been left holding the bag of tricks we call Christianity.
The response Peter gives is the true and good one. I can't pull out quotes because you have to read the whole thing, in order, from start to finish. Let's heed what he says and stick together -- let's remain friends of Jesus Christ, of the saints, of truth, goodness and beauty, of tradition, and of each other!
Someone dear to me said, upon receiving yet another blow from the hierarchy, "We just have to get closer to the cross of Christ -- there is nothing left." Jesus Christ came to save us and He founded this Church. The Church is His Body and as such, will undergo everything that He underwent, including every step of His passion and crucifixion. To be with Him now and hereafter in His glory, we must be willing to suffer what He suffered. He loved us and will love us to the end.
Thank you for sharing this! I just read it and shared it with my husband because this subject of how to respond to the Church as it exists in our time has been the subject of many hours of conversation in our house. We were just saying this morning that we must see ourselves within the entire tradition of the Church (from the Garden of Eden until now), we must look to the entire Communion of Saints (and not get stuck on our contemporary Catholic heroes and their many books and talks) and we must remember that our Faith is such that no statement by any Bishop of the Church of our time has an urgent bearing on the Doctrine of the Faith--if it is in harmony with the Church's teachings throughout time, it goes without saying; if it is not in harmony it is better unsaid. All we need in order to be saved has already been taught for generations. We must live the life of the Church in the most Traditional way possible to us in our place and time. For us this means and Ordinariate parish, for others a TLM parish and for some the most reverent ordinary form they can find (practically impossible, but a discussion for another time). We choose to live the sacramental life.
ReplyDelete"We choose to live the sacramental life." Yes! Absolutely the way to approach our current circumstances, Carol!
DeleteLove your thoughts, Leila, as always. It has been heartbreaking for me to realize so much of our hierarchy are unbelievers. I just do not understand why they are so interested in the positions they occupy if they are not followers of Christ. I admire those who continue to choose to become Catholic today.
I found so much of Dr. K's article encouraging and edifying, but I was troubled by his wording in the fifth paragraph. Speaking about the theology of the Church, he says "...from the Counter-Reformation down to the eve of the Second Vatican Council, we will find one and the same Catholic Faith." I understand that modernists, schismatics, heretics, and sinners are deeply wounding the Church today, but it is the same Church today, guided by the Holy Spirit, as it was at that first Pentecost. To imply that the Truth ended on the "eve of Vat II" is to leave us without hope it seems to me. If we can't trust that the Holy Spirit was present and working in the Church during the Second Vatican Council than how can we trust the Magisterium of the past? I don't mean this in an argumentative sort of way ... just a young-ish Catholic who is seeking to understand how to follow Jesus Christ and His Church.
ReplyDeleteDear Sally,
DeleteThank you for asking this question - Leila directed me to this place so I could leave an answer. I wrote the sentence I did not to deny that the Holy Spirit is still at work, but to acknowledge (with regret) that there has been so much confusion during and after the last Council that we have not been helped by it; in many ways we have been handicapped by it. The Holy Spirit precisely raises up faithful men and women, lay and clerical and religious, who testify to the truth once delivered to the saints and handed on faithfully over all centuries. To the extent that that truth is present in the Council and in the popes afterwards, let us rejoice and give thanks; but to the extent that there is discontinuity, ambiguity, softening, or just plain rupture, let us take our bearings from the unanimous teaching that came before. The Church for sure still remains, wherever there is faith, prayer, sacramental life, and people striving to be saints. That is and has always been THE CHURCH.
I've written a couple of other articles that go into more detail, if you are interesting in following up on them:
https://onepeterfive.com/council-far-spent/
https://onepeterfive.com/vigano-critique-council/
God Bless you and Mary keep you!
It might also be helpful, Sally, to see that he said not "theology" but "any standard catechism" -- meaning, that from the time that such things were written, one could consult them without being led astray. The Catechism of the Council of Trent was written to combat all the errors of the Reformation, and subsequent catechisms were based on it.
DeleteI was saying to Peter that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a sure guide. It was written well after Vatican II and in part to clarify that doctrine had not changed. But after the first edition of that work, we *did* start to see changes being made, partly due to a disordered desire to say everything about everything, rather than keep to the basics.
Anyway, that temptation has only gotten worse. And it causes confusion, confusion that was not there in the time period Peter mentions. Truth didn't end! How could it! But confusion... we are really stumbling right now. We have to return to solid ground.
Thank you both for your thoughtful responses to my question. You put my mind at ease. I especially appreciated what you said Dr. K about "us tak[ing] our bearings from the unanimous teaching that came before."It makes me think about the wisdom of quickly canonizing modern saints. It seems to me that the most prudent response to the confusion of our current times is to turn to the rich witness of saints and teachers of the faith throughout history. In many cases, only time will reveal today's false prophets. Thank you again!
DeleteI'm glad, Sally... and I totally agree about turning to the saints of the past.
DeleteThe Church has vast stores of wisdom. In fact, one red flag for me is when someone says something to the effect that in the past the Church didn't understand this or that but now we know better. On the contrary -- we can only keep on the right path by keeping all that has been taught in mind as we go forward.
If I could interject another thought. When my husband and I started to live liturgically, it really shaped our lives so much more. Living liturgically keeps us focused on God. Feast days, times of prayer, fasting, abstinence, and not just throughout Lent, has enriched our faith. Living this way, we believe, keeps us in tune with what is really important and helps us when the world tries to take us down a wide path.
DeleteLisa, you hit on a good and important point, one that reveals another reason why today's Church so often seems confusing. When the church itself is living on the world's time, doctrine slips away. I strongly believe that individuals and families must do what we can to restore liturgical living at least in the home.
DeleteI was interviewed on Lifesite on this very topic, after Bishop Schneider gave his interview on what families can do in these trying times (and he's so peaceful; that is a very good interview): https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/grandmother-reveals-importance-of-prayer-altar-in-every-catholic-home
Excellent response.
ReplyDeleteWhat Peter says here was fantastic!!..."If fifty years of relentless hostility and lack of support have not been able to crush traditional-loving Catholics, who, though a minority, are more numerous, well-informed, and committed today than at any time since the Council, nothing will crush them in the future."....After reading this I felt like jumping up ready for battle! The Seminarians letter was heart wrenching! I could feel his agony and upset. There is hope though for him when he still is reaching out for the right help.....asking our Blessed Mother to help him. We truly have to look at this as a battle...do we want to walk away and say it was too hard, the enemy was too formidable, too powerful! We are at war, we have to stay and fight. God is so worth it and His children are too. God give us the strength that only You can provide, we need You, we want You, we can't live without You.
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