I am sorry to have been away from the keyboard for so long, but I have been reading many classic and modern voices of the Church, and it has dawned me that I have nothing new or original to contribute.
The wealth of wisdom that the Church has lavished on humanity is staggering. We would all be much wiser and happier if we took the time to learn from the great teachers.
So, as I continue to study, and to put this Holy Wisdom into practice, learning to love God and my neighbors more deeply and effectively, I realized that the best thing I can do with my little blog is to direct readers to the best writing that is out there.
I start today with CRISIS Magazine, a source of incisive (but respectful and loving criticism) of the problems now facing our Church. Two excellent essays about two brave men are up on their homepage today.
The first is “Brendan Had Three Babies“. Austin Ruse is a strong, often truculent, even trident voice of the Catholic Pro-Life movement; but today he writes in a softer tone. Brendan was a Downs Syndrome child (with leukemia) who managed to deeply affect those around him in need. His “three babies” are other children who fought similar health problems, and for whom Brendan offered up his suffering to God.
After I read it, I could well understand why the author is joining others in promoting a canonization for Brendan.
The second is a remarkable defense of a brave bishop somewhere in Texas: “Bishop Strickland: Laying His Life Down for His Sheep“. Strickland is under investigation by the Vatican, apparently because he has spoken out clearly and vigorously against the present pope’s inclination to rewrite century-old doctrine of the Church, and also to tolerate extreme modernist distortions by many bishops.
The pope has begun what appears to be an Inquisition into Strickland’s faith and commitment o the Church. Meanwhile, the Vatican is preparing a Synod about Synods (or something) as an opportunity for the most extreme left-wing bishops to take their best shots at Catholic doctrine. But no investigations of Cardinal Cupich, Fr. Martin, or the German bishops (who seem to be running the Synod).
UPDATE: The boss has since made it official, firing Strickland without giving a reason.
Alas, there seem to be few bishops like Strickland, willing to stand up in defense of Church teaching. And this Inquisition is aimed at making sure it stays that way.
That leaves it to us, the laity. The author quotes an earlier bishop:
From Venerable Fulton Sheen: “Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious.”
What I have seen of the new breed of priests gives me great hope that they, at least, ae up to the challenge. Will the bishops be? Will we?
Let me know what you think.
O Ben Finiti 