Name That Century!

It is 30-50 years after the Catholic Church has had an Ecumenical Council.

The Pope is under attack for defending the Church's teachings. In fact, many& at times most Bishops are out & out rebelling against his authority.

Orthodox Bishops are under attack for teaching the truth.

National gatherings of Bishops are coming out with documents that undermine what the church actually teaches.

Which century is this?:

A) The 20th-21st Century after Vatican II

B) The 4th Century after Nicaea I

C) Both of the above

The correct answer is C. You heard me correctly C.

Let me explain. A few days ago I made a comment about how the Women's Ordination Council would end up being seen by history as in the same league as Arius & his followers. I also commented several places about how things in the Church today reminded me of when the Arian heresy was going on, esp how a large number of Bishops, priests & laity are attacking the faithful Bishops who uphold the Church's teachings on abortion, gay marriage etc & calling them radicals & on the fringe.

So, I decided to dig out a book I bought a few months ago & hadn't started reading yet, The Greek Fathers: Their Lives and Writings by Adrian Fortescue (Reprinted 2007 by Ignatius Press). I read the chapter on St. Athanasius since he was the Bishop who lead the attack on the heresy.

The more I read, the more I discovered how accurate my comparison was. Unfortunately.

In a way though, my discoveries were comforting. Why? Because despite those upholding authentic Catholic teaching being in the monority, even with the Emperor supporting those upholding Arianism (shades of Obama), despite the confusion & disarray, in the end the heresy lost out & orthodoxy won. This has happenned time after time in the Church.

I know that many of us wonder why God allows Bishops who won't uphold & even oppose, as well as undermine, authentic Church teaching. But, Jesus did warn us that this would happen. We see this in Matthew 13 where Jesus told us the parable about the wheat & the tares (darnel in some versions). (Maltthew 13:24-30) Darnel looks like wheat as it is growing. Until it bears its fruit (ie when the ears of grain appear) you aren't aware of the difference. In the end the 2 are seperated. the darnel with its harmful seed is thrown into the fire. The wheat is gathered into the barns. The darnel represents the harmful teaching & those who teach it & live it out. The wheat is the authentic teaching, those who teach it & those who live it out. Part of the message is that God in His mercy offers every opportunity for the darnel to repent & join the wheat.

But it is also a message of hope. Satan is the enemy who sowed the bad seed. he is trying to do so to destroy what God is doing. & at times it seems like he is succeeding. In the end we see that the harm & destruction he is trying to do won't succeed. There always comes a time in the Church when the darnel is destroyed & the wheat is left. & even though time & again Satan may try to plant new hybreds, in the end he will fail again. & at the end of time, his efforts will put to a permanant end.

Studying the struggles of the past & how the truth always won out also encourages me to continue speaking up in defense of the truth. Right now it is so easy to see the Church as going through a time of Winter, even being attacked by a blizzard, & to only focus on that. There are times when I get so fustrated with how things are. It is easy to dispair & give up. But, there are signs of the "Springtime of Hope" Pope John Paul spoke about. There are priests & Bishops speaking out in defense of the Church's teachings on life, sexuality etc. Papa Benedetto is working to end abuses of the Liturgy. I could go on. These are the early signs of that Spring.

Think about how things look in late Winter, early Spring, drab, ugly, junk everywhere. But things get cleaned up, new growth sprouts & soon there is new life everywhere.

Right now we are in that period where the debris is being cleaned up. I firmly believe that God will soon allow that time of chastisement that he sent his mother Mary to warn us about (Fatima, Akita & other approved apparitions).

OK, I know the analogy isn't perfect. Most of the time the junk doesn't fight back. Those of us who are faithful to the Magesterium & the Pope will face persecution as well as purification. But that will be to enable us to bear even more fruit.

I start by reminding myself not to give up hope. & say that to the others out there who feel the same way I do. We must keep battling, we must keep speaking out in defense of the unborn. We must support & uphold those priests & Bishops who are faithful to the Pope & the Churches teachings, esp by prayer.

It is when we don't that we fail to live out our calling.

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I also highly recommend Fr. Fortescue's book. It was written at the start of the 20th Century. He didn't write it as a theological treatise of ther teachings. Rather it is a series of biographical sketches that tell us about the 7 Greek Fathers of the Church. I read the chapter on St. Athenasius & I am half way through St. Basil. I am looking forward to the rest of the book. I have discovered a lot from what I have read so far & am looking forward to learning a lot more about how God worked through these men to enable the Church to grow & maintain its faithfulness to the Gospal.