Posted on 05/13/2004 9:53:24 PM PDT by AskStPhilomena
When societies become exceptionally decadent, when decency is under attack and immorality defended, we naturally seek the source of such a nightmare. Certainly, evil cannot thrive without the cooperation of man. But what men are most culpable for our present decadence, the blatant instigators of the revolution against Our Lord, or the “silent majority”?
By silent majority it is meant those that look the other way in the presence of evil or sigh and say: “Oh well...”. Such “Ohwellians” would prefer to let their heads remain firmly in the sand than acknowledge evil for what it is and take an active stand against it. After all, if the comforts of this life are sufficient, why rock the boat?
There are those for instance, claiming to be Catholic, who when asked about abortion will reply with: “Oh well...it’s the law!” There are others, when faced with liturgical abuse will say: “Oh well... nothing stays the same. What’s wrong with change?” Finally, there is the now classic, out-of-context and simplistic rejoinder: “Oh well, we should not judge!”
What we lack today, with a few notable exceptions, is a combative Catholic spirit in the world. How else could one explain the recent occurrences in Spain, for example. Spain, once the most Catholic and heroic of nations, now surrenders to terrorism and Mohammedism. The papal nuncio to Spain (and other European countries), Monsignor Manual Monteiro de Castro, announces in Madrid that “The new political situation in which we are living in Spain sets new challenges in the spreading of the Gospel and we must meet those challenges in an appropriate manner.”
The Monsignor also states: “There are other forms of cohabitation and it is good that they be recognized.” (1) Another recent news article explains how a statue of Spain’s patron, St. James, was being removed from the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela because it depicts the Saint slicing off the heads of Moors (defending Christendom in the Iberian peninsula). It is claimed that among the reasons for removing the statue to a museum is that it might upset the “sensitivities of other ethnic groups”. The statue is to be replaced with a more politically correct statue.
Supposedly this action has nothing to do the March 11 bombings in Madrid. (2) However, the spirit of El Cid must not be totally vanquished. Another article describes how two courageous men leapt from the audience at an extremely blasphemous play in Spain (whose name is too vulgar to print here) and duly chastised the actors and the stage accouterments. 1) “Papal Envoy Breaks Ranks On Gay Couples,” Guardian Unlimited, May 5, 2004.
2) “Church to Remove Moor-Slayer Saint”, BBC News World Edition, May 3, 2004. One wonders if any amount of moral decay will arouse the indignation of these toadish Ohwellians. In examining our present situation it would seem the answer is negative. Like lobsters in a gradually heated pot of water, so much of our populace would not recognize a comfortable temperature from a boiling death. Perhaps the only thing that will change this laissez-faire attitude toward decadence would be if those perceived as evil were responsible for removing the material comforts from the Ohwellians. Now that would be a cause for indignation!
Well..it's really a part of a very wishy-washy culture, it seems. Nothing means anything--whether it's human life, or the next car I decide to buy.
The only importance now is consumerism-- the only battle is about wages-- values and ideas are for the politicians and few philosophers, left, man.
=== How else could one explain the recent occurrences in Spain, for example. Spain, once the most Catholic and heroic of nations, now surrenders to terrorism and Mohammedism. The papal nuncio to Spain (and other European countries), Monsignor Manual Monteiro de Castro, announces in Madrid that “The new political situation in which we are living in Spain sets new challenges in the spreading of the Gospel and we must meet those challenges in an appropriate manner.”
Halfway through my walk of the Camino last September, I stayed in Leon with some friends. Told my hostess I'd see all kinds of things at daily Mass and paying visits at different churches on the trail but the one thing I hadn't seen was any evidence of a Latin Mass.
"And you won't," she said. When I asked why, she said, "Opus Dei."
Following up on that a month or so ago, she wouldn't really explain what she meant but described them as a cult and begged me to have nothing to do with them. She's not a particularly devout woman though still a practicing Catholic such that she's amazed to see divorced go to Communion at a Catholic wedding in Oklahoma.
I thought that was interesting. It is sad but even Spain is succumbing to the militant atheist (or worse, "tolerant") ways of the Euro Soviet.
On the other hand, I heard some of the best homilies I'd ever heard on the subject of confession and Christ as Physician. I also enjoyed it any time I arrived early enough to catch the ladies praying the Rosary together before Mass ... a fairly common occurrence at the more traditional sorts of parishes.
I guess what hurt the most was seeing how nearly all the churches had moved Christ from the center ... moving the entire screen at the cathedral in Santo Domingo such that they could make room for some Very Horizontal sleek wooden platform for Clergy in the Round.
(If ever you get a ping list, I wish to be on it.)
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