News that I missed, courtesy of The Babylon Bee:
CACTUS, AZ—Local Christian man Lucas Mercer took a few minutes this morning to praise God that he doesn’t live in one of those Communist countries where the government can just shut the churches down on a whim.
He bowed his head in prayer, expressing his gratitude that he doesn’t live in a place like China or the Middle East where churches are closed down by the government all the time.
“Thank you, Lord, that I live in America, where the government would never raid a church, shut it down, order it to close, or cite people for going to church,” said Mercer, praying out his open window this morning as is his custom. “I live in America, land of the free and home of the brave, where we would never put up with police officers shutting down churches. I can live out my faith confidently, knowing that my fellow Americans and I will rise up against the government if they ever tried something like that.”
Go here to read the rest. With certain honorable exceptions the churches in this country have acted shamefully, not only locking down churches around the country, but, especially in the first weeks, giving every appearance of having abandoned their sheep in their hour of need. The Catholic Church is the best organized church in the nation, and I must say that except for a few bishops and a few thousand priests, the Church has not covered herself with glory during this woeful period. I was pleased in reading my local village paper yesterday that the Baptist church in town is reopening May 17. The Village Administrator also announced that the local cops would not be enforcing the ten person limitation that our Governor, the world’s dumbest billionaire, illegally decreed for religious services going forward. Time for all churches to reopen, and time for Catholic bishops, here and abroad, to grow spines and recall that they are, or rather should be, bishops of Christ, and not time serving bureaucrats in fancy dress.
The Catholic Church’s modus operandi is to either not resist or follow secular thinking and authority. It no longer is a beacon of Truth nor the representative of Christ. We are pretty much left to follow Christ’s teachings without the help of the Church. Let us prepare for the Great Chastisement which is surely coming soon.
Michael, perfect summation, unfortunately true. They can set free the lions now, because there will be insufficient shepherd martyrs to feed them this time.
For years,, I’ve pointed out that there isn’t any high school formation for catholic children, this at time when most children go on to college, only to be met with blank stares and comments such as “we have high schools” ,, “we have scholarships”. There have also been the sneers or Diocesan officials who treat NFP couples with more than 2 children with contempt.
I have an idea, with many catholic high schools (the one near us charges $13K per year/ student) now having, thanks to the virus response: online classes in theology, online community, online adoration..
Why not open up these to all catholic high school age children?
Think of the possibilities of reaching the forgotten 95% who don’t attend catholic high schools. High School years are formative years, what if 95% of of young men were exposed to true catholic theology? Maybe then we would have not only ample priests but men, not soft from pampering, women religious too not crazed feminists.. And then consider the strong married couples that would also arise.
So what’s holding us back? I fear the answer is the same as I have experienced for years: there’s just no money in it, the “schools” must be saved, contempt for NFP, an unchristian diocesan bureaucracy giving preferential option to the wealthy who like “their schools” and a familiar song sung not in divine glory but in human pride, it goes like this:
“How Great we art, how Great we art…”
(no, we stink. And we get the priests and bishops we deserve.)
Comparing diocese around my area, the ones which will reopen masses most quickly will not do so until the end of may, with only 1/3 capacity for an indeterminate length of time. There is a talk of requiring people to register for mass online and using the ushers as bouncers that turn away anyone not on the list. That’s the best case scenario.
The worst case scenario are the diocese which have closed indefinitely, and which have made it clear that even having the rest of the country open up would not be enough for them to reopen masses. Maybe they’ll open in a month or two, but nothing the bishops have said in those diocese would be inconsistent with having masses cancelled throughout the entire summer or even longer.
And what’s really starting to annoy me is that every statement from the bishops inevitably ends with “We will make all future decisions following the authority of public officials and health experts.” What about your own authority?
I’m also prepared for the fact that when masses finally do open that we will be lectured for the drop in mass attendance and in donations, as if our leadership had nothing to do with either.
Maybe you should send a few monopoly bucks to your bishop with the note “When we start getting real shepherds, I’ll start sending real dollars.”