Are we living in the worst times?

Often times we hear from progressives that the times have changed so much that our sacramental laws have to change to keep up


But is that true?


Is our time really MORE hostile to the Faith than the Diocletian Persecution?  Is our time MORE hostile to Catholicism than 20th century Russia?  Than China over the last 50 years?


I think St. Agatha who had her breasts cut off or St. Bartholomew who was skinned alive for the Catholic Faith would laugh at the notion that today things are so much more hostile to the Faith or that the times are so much worse than any other time in the past.


From my vantage point, the notion that "Woe is us, we have to bring the Gospel to a world infinitely more hostile to the Faith than anything encountered in the first 2,000 years of the Church" is both

1) wrong

and

2) lazy


It is lazy because in believing that we live in a time "SO much worse" than anything else ever encountered, we can also, in the back of our mind, excuse our failure to do a better job because "things are so much worse now"

"Wow, things are so much worse in your time?  I was skinned alive 2,000 years ago for being Catholic

Hebrews 12:4 - "you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

We have this moment

With all the sexual misconduct/rape/abuse reports coming out against Hollywood moguls and media superstars, it is easy to get cynical and retweet and join in the piling on and the "I told you so".

This seems particularly tempting for Catholics, as our teaching on sexual morality has been skewered for the last two decades in the wake of the priestly abuse crisis.


However, it seems to me that we have this opportunity where a lot of people in our culture are awaking to the fact that perhaps our culture's approach to sexuality is not working, and are looking around and wondering "Is there a path out of this?"

 I think we as Catholics are gravely mistaken if we do not step in and help explain what our Church says with regards to sexual expression and also what our Church teaches about the role that morality and Christian principles can play in shaping public policy and law without insisting that a nation become an explicitly Catholic theocracy.







I think many fear that if there is anything in our public sphere that even SOUNDS Christian, we can't utilize it because of the separation of Church and state. 



But the Catholic Church has a lot of well-reasoned non-threatening non-seeking-to-take-over-the-country things to say and engage on this question of how laws can be more rooted in Truth while maintaining our Nation's Constitution.

Let's share these ideas and engage in these conversations - the time seems right, and people seem to want to have this conversation unlike any other time in my lifetime

I'm spiritual but not religious

The Time I Almost Died on the Middle Teton

Conscience

If a person's conscience is telling them to

1) stockpile nuclear weapons

2) turn away immigrants

3) pollute a local river

4) utilize the death penalty


Should that person follow their conscience?

Don't share your oil?

A Form to Weed out the Church

Here's a first draft of a letter a Pope might consider utilizing to address the informal but de fact schism that is only widening:


"For immediate distribution to all priests, religious, bishops, theologians, parish staff, and teachers at Catholic schools of all levels from kindergarten to the university and to all who claim to in any way be a theologian in the Catholic Church:

Please sign and return this document stating that you agree to the following

1.  Abortion is always and everywhere a grave evil.  If procuring or assisting in an abortion is freely done with the understanding that it is a grave evil, then it is a mortal sin.

2.  Sexual activity outside the context of a valid marriage is always and everywhere a grave evil.  If sexual activity outside the context of a valid marriage is freely chosen with the understanding that it is a grave evil, then that act is a mortal sin.

3.  Marriage, even civil marriage, can only exist between one man and one woman.  An attempted marriage between persons of the same sex is a grave evil.  Attempting or participating in an attempted marriage between persons of the same sex, if freely chosen with the understanding that it is a grave evil, then the act is a mortal sin.

4.  Artificial contraception (chemical or otherwise) is always and everywhere a grave evil.  Any use of artificial contraception, if freely chosen with the understanding that it is a grave evil, is a mortal sin.

I understand that I must always and everywhere publicly profess and teach the above teachings, and I will never work to teach otherwise, either directly or indirectly. 


________________________________________

Please submit this form to your local bishop at your earliest convenience