The recent comments by Glenn Beck have been condemned by many because he denounced the over-emphasis on social justice in our churches, at the expense of preaching repentance and abstaining from sin. Some have even gone so far as to say, and I quote, “Why does Glenn Beck Hate Jesus?” I struggled a bit with Beck’s idea, but in the end, I came to the conclusion that he’s probably right. Social justice is very important and does need to be preached, but I think we have gone so far that this is ALL we hear in many of our parishes. Too many priests have gone from preaching about sin to preaching about global warming. Too many have abandoned the topic of the afterlife in favor of supporting legalization of illegal Mexican immigrants. Basically, our pulpits have changed from soul-saving to liberal agenda promoting. Bob Lonsberry took up this topic on his show today. I’m not a fan of his, but he did hit a home run with his defense of Beck’s idea on social justice.
Below are some excerpts from Lonsberry’s blog entry. Be sure to read the whole thing.
“Seeing a chance to divide conservatives, the media claims that Beck?s words are an affront to Christianity.
They are not.
They are a challenge to those who prostitute Christianity.
They are a challenge to the branch of socialism which has infiltrated and adulterated a portion of mainstream American Christianity.
Put less delicately, the devil is in the pulpit.
And Glenn Beck simply said so.
What has happened in America is that the traditional Christian church has been co-opted. Its clergy has been taken over by people and philosophies which are alien to its origins and scriptures. What comes over the American pulpit today would be seen as heresy by the people who built the churches in which those sermons are delivered.
Liberation theology has liberated theology from God. It has become, in many instances, a tool of man, manipulating God?s work to satisfy man?s appetites.
Evangelism has been replaced by activism, and Jesus has been replaced by Marx.
Faith and repentance have been replaced by peace and justice. And Glenn Beck was merely saying what millions of American believers know.”
So what are we to do? As Beck suggested, if our parish is all about social justice and global warming while neglecting the rest of the Gospel, we should find a new parish. I think we have a lot of work to do going into the future to find a balance between social justice and the rest of the Gospel. I realize that many of the more traditional parishes tend to neglect charitable works in the community. My vision for a parish would be one that has solemn, reverent worship with thought-provoking and hard-hitting homilies, while also encouraging people to go out into the world and do charitable works for others. This shouldn’t be too hard to achieve, should it? I hope one day we find a healthy balance, and preach the full Gospel message of Christ. We need to help our fellow man both in this life, and help them to achieve eternal salvation in the life to come.
Tags: Democrats
|
Yesterday at St. Margaret Mary we got a huge dose of progressivism. A visiting deacon – pardon me for not remembering his name – lectured us on the need for "justice for immigrants."
One the way out, there were postcards for us to fill out and mail to our representatives, showing our support for immigration reform – including a "path toward citizenship."
A fellow parishioner tells me that after visiting the website referenced on those postcards, it only took about two clicks to end up at SEIUs website.
As a new Catholic (just approaching a year now), I was delighted to have found a sensible, conservative parish-home. Now I'm scared I need to run for the doors.
Great.
Our Lady of Victory Church is orthodox ALL the time.You could certainly try it.
Ludwig – I agree with Bernie about Our Lady of Victory.However a little closer to you would be St. Stanislaus, where the Tridentine Latin Mass is said at 1:30. Yesterday's sermon was about Brother Andre and the miracles attributed to him when he was at St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal. We do have social sermons.
Ludwig–just go to the Masses that Fr Erdle says!
Matt – Fr. Erdle presided yesterday.
"… the devil is in the pulpit."
So Chestertonian! Why couldn't I have thought of that line?
Interesting- I am a parishioner at ST. THomas and am in search of a parish that we can consider attending starting in the summer. God willing, it wont come to that- but my son will be in 2nd grade next year and there is no way he will be receiving religious ed at CTK. In any case, I heard great things about St. Leo's in Hilton. But when I went to their website- they too had much "social Justice" information. Thank you, no- the only political aspect that I want to be part of (as it relates to my parish) is one that speaks sincerely on the Right to Life Movement.
Also- ANyone have any suggestions for vacation bible school that is more traditional???
Anon. at St. Thomas,
You might want to check out the VBS program across the river at Holy Cross. Their web page for last year's program is here (with the photos by yours truly – larger version here).
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a traditional VBS but I can assure you the HC one is orthodox.
Mary Toot (621-8133) runs the program with help from several adults and over a dozen high school kids from the parish. I'm sure she would be more than willing to answer any questions.
For the record, Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius XI, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, and Pope John Paul II all wrote some beautiful letters promoting social justice. The bishops of the world in a synod viewed social justice as a "constituitive part of the gospel."
One may argue about the specifics, but the church has been the moral conscience of the world about many social issues including the dignity of each human person.
"For the record, Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius XI, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, and Pope John Paul II all wrote some beautiful letters promoting social justice. The bishops of the world in a synod viewed social justice as a "constituitive part of the gospel."
So let's discard the rest of the Gospel and focus on saving trees?
The Lord said, "And every treeith thou shalt hath saved, I will repayith thou with thine bounty of the heavens" (The Gospel of Barack Obama)
The problem with "social justice" that it is now used to promote socialism.
Among the things now included in "social justice," encouraging illegal immigration, taxing us to the point where many people can no longer give to charitable organizations and the Church, all in order for the government to provide money to people and groups, promotion of abortion, homosexual rights, etc.