Who’s a little worried about the Church?
Yup. OK. Who’s a lot worried about the Church?
We’ve seen mixed messages about fundamental teachings of the Church. We’ve watched the Vatican essentially abandon the persecuted Church in China. We’ve witnessed silence, cowardice, and confusion among Church leaders.
We’ve listened to so many Church leaders seemingly more concerned with climate change than salvation.
Catholic schools grow increasingly faithless and suffer dwindling admissions. Catholic colleges increasingly adapt themselves to more worldly concerns.
We’re told that the gates of Hell will never prevail but it’s not looking great.
I know that many people focus on Pope Francis as the author of many of the Church’s problems but it really isn’t just him. The Church is infested with leftists and cowards. The problems we face will likely not be saved merely by a new pope.
IIn fact, John Allen recently wrote that “Of the 11 cardinals who will lose voting privileges over the next year, all are appointees of either Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI. By that point, of the 120 cardinals eligible to vote, 82 will have been appointed by Francis, representing 68.4 percent – in other words, above the two-thirds threshold needed to elect a pope.”
For those keeping score at home, that’s not great. That means we will likely see more of the same.
My take is that we can no longer save the Church. That will be up to God. I believe that the change will be so clearly God’s hand that it will only be attributable to Him. When things seem at their worst, God will move showing the world that the Church is not merely a human institution.
Keep praying.
Now looks like a good time for a miracle or two, doesn’t it?
September 21, 2022 at 6:37 pm
Now here is something to consider. It is something I share with my pro-life friends often.
“The Gates of Hell will not prevail against you.” The good message, is that we are assured of victory. But why “the Gates of Hell”?
In biblical times cities or towns were like fortresses protected by walls. Gates were opened and closed to allow people to come in or go out. Very few forts were successfully stormed. Victories were won by siege – the surrounding of the fortress to prevent resupply. No food, or water could be brought in to those inside. So eventually, they would have to surrender.
How does that apply to us? Our calling is to prepare a siege against the Gates of Hell! Confront the forces of Evil. You rightly point out some slippage toward error – and we cannot fail to confront that, even in our Church heirarchy. We need to do our best to remain faithful ourselves – even conceding our own imperfections. We need to resist the impulse to become sanctimonious. We should anchor any confrontation in Matthew 18. Humbly point out error, and allow correction to accur. If it doesn’t, we must gradually take stronger actions. (These are difficult tasks to perform in charity. Emotions can interfere. But we are still called to confront the Gates of Hell, because that is what is required of us. And we do so in faithful confidence that the Gates of Hell will not prevail against us! But no confrontation – no siege – and the Gates of Hell prevail until we do our duty.