So many times when I have an argument with a “progressive” Catholic, I’m struck how he or she always falls back on the same old crutch. “But Jesus wouldn’t be so judgmental.” Or maybe, “Jesus wouldn’t say/act like that.” Or even, “Jesus wouldn’t have a problem with that.”
Two minor objections, which are ultimately matters of personal sentiment on my part, are that (1.) the “progressive” seems to throw about the Holy Name a bit too casually. The spirit in which we say the Name of Our Lord, Jesus, ought to be one of reverence, not justification. (2.) It’s just a trite way to avoid a more mature discussion. It’s called, in technical terms, “a fallacious appeal to authority.” Basically, “We can’t eat the cookies because daddy said ‘no'” becomes the mentality of the progressive’s argument.
However, the biggest objection I have to this sort of thing is that Jesus was not some passive, all-embracing social activist. You say Jesus wouldn’t condemn “X” or punish Fr./Sr./Msgr./Bishop “Y”? Well, then you seem to be forgetting the dialogue Jesus had with His Apostles on Holy Thursday:
And whilst they were eating, he said: Amen I say to you that one of you is about to betray me. And they being very much troubled began every one to say: Is it I, Lord? But he answering said: He that dips his hand with me in the dish, he shall betray me. The Son of man indeed goes, as it is written of him. But woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for him, if that man had not been born.
“Melius illi erat, si natus non fuiset.” “It were better for him, if that man had not been born.”
We are exceedingly and unworthily blessed with God’s mercy. However, that is not some Divine “get out of jail free” card. We must strive always to serve Our Lord and to be obedient to His Church, and pray most earnestly that we never take the place of Judas. Remember, Judas was at the Last Supper, the First Mass. He was called by Our Lord personally. This should remind us that if we feel “called,” we may well indeed be so. However, it isn’t an easy way out of falling into sin. If I felt called to be a father, I would pursue it in a valid, licit, and holy way, through the Sacrament of Marriage. I wouldn’t say, “I feel called to be a father . . . so I’ll just snatch a kid and call him Gen Jr.” No. I may have discerned the right calling, but most certainly not the right path to answering it.
Remember, ultimately, that we ought to act with all love, all humility when serving Our Lord. He is always first, and when we manipulate His Church to achieve our own ends, be they political, social, or personal, we assume the role of Judas. And in that moment of demonic transformation, we should do well to remember that Christ Himself denounced the traitor, and Christ Himself has the same ability to denounce us if, through our selfishness, we have denounced Him.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
Tags: Est Quod Est, Progressive Drivel, Reflection
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Next time, ask them how they’re so sure and if He told them so.
No doubt, I pray God for the grace always to be grateful for what Gen describes as:
“We are exceedingly and unworthily blessed with God’s mercy.” Yes, I want to be grateful for being blessed with God’s mercy. At the same time I pray for deliverance from what Gen describes as “…when we manipulate His Church to achieve our own ends, be they political, social, or personal, we assume the role of Judas.” I absolutely desire deliverance from the temptation to manipulate God’s Church and denounce the Lord Christ through selfishness.
Gen’s statement that she has heard some say “Jesus wouldn’t say/act like that” reminds me of the time I heard a priest right after reading the Gospel at Mass start his homily with WE ALL KNOW THAT JESUS WOULD NEVER HAVE SAID THAT….. I was astounded that a Catholic priest would read the Word of God and then declare that Jesus would never have said that. Wow, double wow.
Just today I read a Cal Thomas syndicated column in which he concludes asserting IF THE CHURCHES CRAVE POWER AND APPROVAL FROM BELOW, THEY WILL FORFEIT THE POWER THAT COULD BE THEIRS FROM ABOVE. May our Diocese of Rochester, her Bishop and all of his official representatives on Buffalo Road be grateful for God’s mercy; seek deliverance from the temptation to manipulate God’s Church; cry out in repentance for any time their Lord Christ was denounced through selfishness; and never ever again prefer power and approval from below and thus forfeit the power that could be theirs from above.
Personally, I cannot help but assess that the state of the Diocese in Rochester (e.g church clusterings,consolidations,closings, and sellings) reflects nothing but loss of Divine Power from above to fulfill the Divine Mission given her by the Savior Jesus?
Have Mercy On Us, LORD, Have Mercy.
There is a lot of “Personal revelation. One such source is “Poem of the Man God” by Maria Valtorta. It is a 5 volume, extremely detailed narrative of the life of Jesus, illustrating many events not mentioned in the Gospels. I don’t think there is anything heretetical about the writings but it is personal revelation. She was a bed ridden patient who over the course of I think several years, was given visions of the life of Jesus and she wrote this all down. For those who are interested, the description of the passion of Our Lord is very powerful.
Evidently, according to her, Jesus asked Judas to reconsider his decision to become an apostle and asked he come back after careful thought. Unfortunately, Judas did and the rest is history.