Here’s an interesting little outtake from a book that I am reading: 
“’I will not say that (the Church) has no influence,’- he replied – ‘But that it has not so much as it might have. We are living in evil days and the Church does not seem strong enough to cope with its adversaries. Honestly speaking, I pity the clergy! For many years past they have been lax in their duties-they have taken things too easily-and the consequence is that now they find themselves unprepared for difficulty.’”
More noteworthy than anything else is that this quote was published in 1908 in a book called Holy Orders by Marie Corelli. There is a reason that the cliché was established, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In almost every age it seems that someone is predicting the end of the Catholic Church yet she marches on through the centuries. In fact, Fr. Benedict Groeschel uses this odd balance between impending doom of the Church and her tenacity to survive as a sign that she is truly guided and protected in her given mission by the Holy Spirit.
“I sometimes think we’re the true religion because if we weren’t, we’re so stupid we wouldn’t get anyplace.”
When faced with opposition from the Church, Napoleon was asked what he was going to do to suppress it and bring the people in line with his world view. To this he reported responded,
“You can’t destroy the Catholic Church. The clergy have been trying to destroy it for 1800 years and they are not getting anywhere.”
Readers of this blog know I am stubbornly optimistic about the future of the Church. This is not because I think her perfect and not in need of constant reform and challenge, but because there is something about her and her message and mission that makes her worthy of constant reform and change. Despite two thousand years of her teachings being rejected, ridiculed, and labeled antiquated; despite that men acting in the name of the Church have made horrible decisions and caused scandal in her name; despite the fact that she is often despised, suppressed, and ignored; in every age her children are willing to risk their lives, denounce worldly joys, and conform their spirit to her in radical ways because of her call to unity, her beauty, her truth, and that holiness is obtainable through her.
That same spirit rises in her children to this day. World wide there are record numbers of Catholics, more men studying for the priesthood than ever before, people still risking martyrdom and some are still granted it, parents still sacrifice for Catholic education, loyal hearts still make Mass attendance a priority, great confessions are still heard, people still speak out and many, many people take seriously that the title Catholic is something to be lived, not just born with.
Yes, there is much to be done. Her earthy character is not perfect. She will face challenges. Yes there are those who proclaim to be Catholic but live in such a way as to damage her reputation. There are shadows but greater still is the Sun. Let us not spend all of our time saying, “What a shame,” but to lend ourselves as agents of the Holy Spirit who sees the Church through in every age.
“The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable.
“The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the papacy remains. The Papacy remains not in decay, not a mere antique, but full if life and youthful vigour. The Catholic Church is still sending for
th to the farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustin, and still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which she confronted Attila . . .“Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching.
“’I will not say that (the Church) has no influence,’- he replied – ‘But that it has not so much as it might have. We are living in evil days and the Church does not seem strong enough to cope with its adversaries. Honestly speaking, I pity the clergy! For many years past they have been lax in their duties-they have taken things too easily-and the consequence is that now they find themselves unprepared for difficulty.’”
More noteworthy than anything else is that this quote was published in 1908 in a book called Holy Orders by Marie Corelli. There is a reason that the cliché was established, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In almost every age it seems that someone is predicting the end of the Catholic Church yet she marches on through the centuries. In fact, Fr. Benedict Groeschel uses this odd balance between impending doom of the Church and her tenacity to survive as a sign that she is truly guided and protected in her given mission by the Holy Spirit.
“I sometimes think we’re the true religion because if we weren’t, we’re so stupid we wouldn’t get anyplace.”
When faced with opposition from the Church, Napoleon was asked what he was going to do to suppress it and bring the people in line with his world view. To this he reported responded,
“You can’t destroy the Catholic Church. The clergy have been trying to destroy it for 1800 years and they are not getting anywhere.”
Readers of this blog know I am stubbornly optimistic about the future of the Church. This is not because I think her perfect and not in need of constant reform and challenge, but because there is something about her and her message and mission that makes her worthy of constant reform and change. Despite two thousand years of her teachings being rejected, ridiculed, and labeled antiquated; despite that men acting in the name of the Church have made horrible decisions and caused scandal in her name; despite the fact that she is often despised, suppressed, and ignored; in every age her children are willing to risk their lives, denounce worldly joys, and conform their spirit to her in radical ways because of her call to unity, her beauty, her truth, and that holiness is obtainable through her.
That same spirit rises in her children to this day. World wide there are record numbers of Catholics, more men studying for the priesthood than ever before, people still risking martyrdom and some are still granted it, parents still sacrifice for Catholic education, loyal hearts still make Mass attendance a priority, great confessions are still heard, people still speak out and many, many people take seriously that the title Catholic is something to be lived, not just born with.
Yes, there is much to be done. Her earthy character is not perfect. She will face challenges. Yes there are those who proclaim to be Catholic but live in such a way as to damage her reputation. There are shadows but greater still is the Sun. Let us not spend all of our time saying, “What a shame,” but to lend ourselves as agents of the Holy Spirit who sees the Church through in every age.
“The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable.
“The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the papacy remains. The Papacy remains not in decay, not a mere antique, but full if life and youthful vigour. The Catholic Church is still sending for
th to the farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustin, and still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which she confronted Attila . . .“Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of the all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished in Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. “And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveler from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul’s.”
-Thomas Babington Macaulay
7 comments:
Dear God, thank you for creating me Catholic and for letting me live long enough to be willing to die for the privilege.
Dear Father, Your statement "There is a reason that the cliché was established, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same,'" reminded me of a verse from today's first reading: "What was will be again; what has been done will be done again...." (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
"We are living in evil days and the Church does not seem strong enough to cope with its adversaries. Honestly speaking, I pity the clergy! For many years past they have been lax in their duties-they have taken things too easily-and the consequence is that now they find themselves unprepared for difficulty."
I have seen many closed minded statemets in my lifetime, but this one tops them all. We are not living in evil days, we are living in days of free, unrestricted thought and discovery. For to long religions have claimed they are the right way because of what, a prophet and a book written by men? The church is suffering not because their clergy is lax, but rather they can no longer answer the questions people seek. Pity the lax clergy member all you want, they most certianly will have the last laugh when more young people tend to "flock" to their parishes.
afalluco ~ Yup..that so called "free, unrestricted thought" is the problem. Yes, we have free will, and in reality, we've ALWAYS had "free, unrestricted thought". Nothing has changed from the beginning of time. If you think that is new...look at history.
It's "free, unrestricted thought" that allowed the recent victimization of innocent business owners at the hands of a bunch of self-proclaimed "anarchists" at the RNC in St. Paul MN. It's the "free, unrestricted thought" that has caused the deaths of thousands, no...millions...of unborn children. It's the "free, unrestricted thought" of radicalists who don't think life matters, so it matters naught if they take out towers and planes, or businesses, or church buildings full of people. For what is life if "restricted thought" means we allow others to live?
You may consider the Bible to be a book written by "men" or "a prophet:, but let's get real....you will be dust not long from now. And your words...dust as well. As will be mine. But the Bible comes from long before us and will last long beyond. That's called "a sign of credibility".
Napoleon was right...even with the efforts of our own corrupt clergy who are STILL trying to destroy the Church...she, and we as the faithful will last far longer than those of you who throw dust into the wind.
It is a sign of credibility that the Church has lasted this long..and will continue in spite of your medieval efforts to cast aspersions upon something you aren't even trying to understand.
My friend afallucco, I'm afraid Adoro te devote is correct in saying that man has always had full control of his own thoughts. It's the idea of freedom of speech that is relatively new (225 or so years), and ,until recently, unique to the United States. It's also a concept which makes this country such an interesting place to live.
Also, I do believe, that mankind has seen your world of "free, unrestricted thought and discovery" many times before our present era. Philosophies the likes of Hedonism came and went long before you and I made our appearance. I presume that today's moral relativism will pass, too, as this manner of living eventually corrupts both the mind and body and is unsustainable.
Lastly, I would venture that if you were to review the canon of Western literature, you would find that the questions man has been asking throughout the ages haven't really changed all that much. Similarly, I believe that the Church's answers have remained relatively stable over the last 2000 years. It's really more appropriate to say that post-modern man, surrounded by the chaos of moral relativism, is less able (or simply less willing) to discern the truth among an increasing number of entities proferring "answers."
In discussions such as these, I can't help but recall Psalm 42 from the preparatory prayers that begin the Tridentine Mass: " Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against a faithless people; from the decietful and impious man rescue me."
example ..When people are of the same “ genetics” they Dont marry. inbreeding of course happens.
ONE of the problems is that the teachings of the church have become INBRED..
spiritually there has been over a 1000 years of INBREEDING which of course has dummied down the greatness of Christ’s message. to where it is today because of the endless variations and emphasis it puts on outdated DOGMA.…
And of course the sycophants of the church will defend it as they defend their own ignorance, to confirm their own reality which is as warped as any group of a collective consciousness that refuses to see things as they are rather than what they want them to be..
Its only spiritually absurd people that create spiritual atrocities [ all you have to is look at the centuries of spiritual abuse in the catholic church.]
THE identify with god has not changed. you CANT change it. GOD consciousness is omnipotent and unchanging as it is without duplicity.
The more you have people tell you through centuries of INBRED DOMGA god is or isnt the further away you get from what god really is.
Did you ever stop to think, the LARGER the CHURCH is the further away people a re from god??
anything and anyone can inspire a false sense of spirituality , simply by more rituals and austerities and MORE incense and LARGER churches with bigger windows etc. that has NOTHING to do with gods but everything to do what MAN wants to believe is THAT …..
the REAL temple that is untouched and unchanging is NOT from eons of inbred dogma and larger churches. its in the temple that is unchanged and is the spark of divine consciousness that is WITH all people and is part of the infinite untouched and pure . it is WITHIN one NOT more books and variations on centuries of SPIRITUAL INBREEDING which constantly try and out do each other each generation . That which you think “IS” is NOT. and that which you think is” NOT” actually is. People aren’t destroying anything . they are trying to FIND it,.
and it CANT be done with further INBREEDING of outdated dogma. .
"It's the "free, unrestricted thought" that has caused the deaths of thousands, no...millions...of unborn children. It's the "free, unrestricted thought" of radicalists who don't think life matters, so it matters naught if they take out towers and planes, or businesses, or church buildings full of people."
So your saying free unrestricted thought is the reason for taking the lives of millions, look at radical islamics, they did it all for "God". Take a look at the crusades, same thing. Why are radicalist called radicalists? Because there are few of them. You tell me to look at history, now you look at it. There were always a few radical people in every time period. Like you've said, it's old news. Take a look at something from more then one point of view, that is what I am speaking of when I say you are being close minded. People, don't massively kill without reason, or because they don't care about life. Look at Sadam, he thought he was doing the right thing for his religion by mass murdering many in his country, hence protecting his religion. Terrorists kill because they want to get a point accross and they figure the only way they can do that is through murder, not because they don't care about life. Look at things from other points of view, you make make a lot more sense out of it.
"You may consider the Bible to be a book written by "men" or "a prophet:, but let's get real....you will be dust not long from now. And your words...dust as well. As will be mine. But the Bible comes from long before us and will last long beyond. That's called "a sign of credibility""
People are afraid of death and afraid of what lies beyond. They are afraid that life may not have a purpose and everything is meaningless. The bible gives them a certian hope, as do religions. Because religions are based around the bible, people give it credit. Because people need something to believe, they believe what religions tell them. Like said before, your beliefs are purely subjective. I look at the bible and say it lasts because it gives people a hope and purpose they so desperately carve, you look at it as some sign of credibility from a higher power.
"and will continue in spite of your medieval efforts to cast aspersions upon something you aren't even trying to understand."
Well, a typical catholic, judging me before you even know me. I was raised catholic, in fact the parish father v. is now at I was a part of. I went to that parish school and a catholic high school. Don't try to tell me i didn't try to understand. I tried everyday, but never saw how I could blindly subject myself to some sort of false comfort whose only proof is through subjective evidence. It was quite illogical.
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