I should have known better than to believe that scales would fall from eyes once the truth started coming out. I have a consistent fault where I believe people. I believe that others mean what they say, and that truth will be accepted when shown the light of day. That is not what is happening in our Church right now.
Instead the Catholic world is in a civil war. I'm sure the Devil is celebrating.
He is celebrating our collective inability to stand for truth. That comradery, friendships, and working relationships are fracturing left and right over demands that we "pick a side", "withhold judgement", "wait for more information".
There is a difference between rushing to judgement and seeing what is before your eyes. I cannot abide any attempts to evade investigation upon pet favorites. The instinct to protect a "side" is from the Evil One. If you are not on the side of truth, please reconsider for the sake of your soul.
Do not be so corrupted that you allow tribalism to take pride of place over love of truth.
There can be no healing as long as we continue this ridiculous "liberal Catholic vs. conservative Catholic" civil war. Those labels have never made sense in the fullness of Catholic theology and they are now becoming a weapon of our own destruction. A crude mallet with which to crush our own brothers and sisters.
I love the Pope. I love him enough to be willing to call upon him to be a better shepherd. It is reasonable to expect our Holy Father to show up and guide his children.
It has happened before that a Pope has been too personally weak to fulfill the duties of his office. It took great Saints, like St. Catherine of Siena, who refused to be silenced, persisting in the face of immense pressure to go home and be good - and quiet.
I love my Church. I love Jesus. I love my Catholic brothers and sisters. I love them enough to refuse to let them harm themselves.
We don't have all the answers yet, but we all know enough now to know that this is a war.
Not between liberal Catholics and conservative Catholics.
Not between those pro or anti Pope Francis.
This is a war between Heaven and Hell.
This is a battle that will only be won if each and every one of us purges attachments to evil in our own lives and within ourselves. Let no one rest easy.
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YES. I agree about disliking the terms liberal and conservative-- Bishop Robert Barron has said some great things on that topic!!
ReplyDeleteI am "anti Francis" and "conservative" and I feel anger, but also guilt as if I somehow wanted this to prove I am right about Francis. I don't. I want the truth, but the nuncio's revelation is horrifying to me and I don't get any joy from it (unlike other sources I could name.) (I will also mention that I like some things about him, for instance I don't think his love of the poor is an act.) I feel like I can't talk about this because people think that I am "out to get him" and think I am too biased to be fair. They may be partially right, but not talking about what has been revealed seems like averting my eyes from what I believe to be true. I don't think Francis is going anywhere. I don't know how to temper my personal feelings with the respect for office in the decade we will likely still have him.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be hard! Prior to this I had no real beef with Francis. I wasn't a fan girl of absolutely everything he touched, like many others I know, but I didn't dislike him. Now it's going to be absolutely important that we all break ourselves of the clericalism and cults of personality that have allowed for such an epic crisis.
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