Recently I was listening to Robert George, a Princeton philosopher who is staunchly Catholic. He similarly has a grim view of the challenge from the left, but is uplifting and optimistic. The download is here http://94b3a76e023813757a0f-ae89554633acf7b3ce455bd027c59041.r69.cf5.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/MiltGeorgep102513.mp3 -- it is the Dec. 12, 2013 episode at Miltrosenberg.com, an archive of excellent intellectual conversations on a broad range of topics.
The Knights La Salette youtube is not exactly inspirational. The theme is not a new tactic, "who we are is who we were" is close to the ploy used to rally struggling Germans in the early 30's as the new Arians. The Fulton Sheen videos remembered so nostalgically are really not that endearing (see https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fulton+sheen&sm=1). The Knights speaker remembers Luther as a "Judas-like figure" -- John Paul II was far more respectful (seehttp://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/06/world/pope-praises-luther-in-an-appeal-for-unity-on-protest-anniversary.html). The speaker harkens back to the astonishing St. Edmund Campion who recited latin prayers as he was martyred by Anglican Christians. Then the speaker laments a counter-revolutionary near victory in England thwarted by an agreement to lay down arms and negotiate in good faith (as though compelling Catholic faith by the force of arms was something to be admired).
The growing darkness in America is troubling and it may become a challenge as profound as the darkness of WW2 atrocities. Is God calling us to be faithful and tragic witnesses like Ann Frank? To be secret resistance like Dietrich von Bonhoeffer? To be open but respectful dissidents in the pattern of MLK and Gandhi? To be fierce militants honoring the memory of Fulton Sheen?
I wonder if the nostalgia for 1950s and 1960s Catholicism is really a psychological avoidance of the new challenge for our age; this nostalgia seems to be mostly about finding fault in believers who are not Catholic enough, and much less about compassion or about preparation for facing the prospects of risking our lives to follow Jesus. If there are Christians claiming to embrace faith as militants, are they sending contingents to stand with Christian brethren in China, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and in other places where just attending Mass provokes reprisals? I feel that my failure to stand up for faith on those frontiers -- and risk what they risk -- is nothing to be proud of.
When the life risking moment comes, some may be compelled to draw a sword and strike the opponent like the reprimanded Peter during the arrest of Jesus (who then humiliated himself by denying any association with our Lord). Isn't it striking that this most humiliated man was elevated to leader of the faith and then served that role admirably? And isn't it striking that before he became the Risen Christ, the abandoned Jesus wasn't just tortured and killed, he was stripped naked and publicly humiliated?
My sense of the coming darkness is that prideful, ego-centered, self-important, self-assured performers like Fulton Sheen are of no use at all. I think the movie OF GODS AND MEN Of Gods and Men #2 Movie CLIP - Nearest In Love (2010) HD embraces the challenge far more appropriately. Can we continue to be servants to the needy in the face of great adversity? Right now we are so spent from whining about the adversity, that there is precious little energy left for service to the needy. Perhaps it's time to try the reverse of those allocations -- it might be miraculous.
The Knights La Salette youtube is not exactly inspirational. The theme is not a new tactic, "who we are is who we were" is close to the ploy used to rally struggling Germans in the early 30's as the new Arians. The Fulton Sheen videos remembered so nostalgically are really not that endearing (see https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fulton+sheen&sm=1). The Knights speaker remembers Luther as a "Judas-like figure" -- John Paul II was far more respectful (seehttp://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/06/world/pope-praises-luther-in-an-appeal-for-unity-on-protest-anniversary.html). The speaker harkens back to the astonishing St. Edmund Campion who recited latin prayers as he was martyred by Anglican Christians. Then the speaker laments a counter-revolutionary near victory in England thwarted by an agreement to lay down arms and negotiate in good faith (as though compelling Catholic faith by the force of arms was something to be admired).
The growing darkness in America is troubling and it may become a challenge as profound as the darkness of WW2 atrocities. Is God calling us to be faithful and tragic witnesses like Ann Frank? To be secret resistance like Dietrich von Bonhoeffer? To be open but respectful dissidents in the pattern of MLK and Gandhi? To be fierce militants honoring the memory of Fulton Sheen?
I wonder if the nostalgia for 1950s and 1960s Catholicism is really a psychological avoidance of the new challenge for our age; this nostalgia seems to be mostly about finding fault in believers who are not Catholic enough, and much less about compassion or about preparation for facing the prospects of risking our lives to follow Jesus. If there are Christians claiming to embrace faith as militants, are they sending contingents to stand with Christian brethren in China, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and in other places where just attending Mass provokes reprisals? I feel that my failure to stand up for faith on those frontiers -- and risk what they risk -- is nothing to be proud of.
When the life risking moment comes, some may be compelled to draw a sword and strike the opponent like the reprimanded Peter during the arrest of Jesus (who then humiliated himself by denying any association with our Lord). Isn't it striking that this most humiliated man was elevated to leader of the faith and then served that role admirably? And isn't it striking that before he became the Risen Christ, the abandoned Jesus wasn't just tortured and killed, he was stripped naked and publicly humiliated?
My sense of the coming darkness is that prideful, ego-centered, self-important, self-assured performers like Fulton Sheen are of no use at all. I think the movie OF GODS AND MEN Of Gods and Men #2 Movie CLIP - Nearest In Love (2010) HD embraces the challenge far more appropriately. Can we continue to be servants to the needy in the face of great adversity? Right now we are so spent from whining about the adversity, that there is precious little energy left for service to the needy. Perhaps it's time to try the reverse of those allocations -- it might be miraculous.
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