One year of madness, and where is the Church?
Ed Murray/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
For many months, I have wanted to come onto this blog and unleash my myriad and, um… emphatic thoughts on the Covid-terror that has been unleashed upon the world. I don’t mean the virus itself (which is real and poses deadly risk for certain clearly identified populations). I mean the terror-narrative itself, and the entire apparatus that has upheld and stoked that unholy narrative for a solid year now. I fell prey to the terror-narrative for three or four weeks, until I got my head together and snapped back to reality. A lot of us figured out early that the “two weeks to flatten the curve” was a bait and switch for “you will do what we say until this virus is literally banished from the earth—and maybe not even then.” Can anyone plausibly deny it?
Of all the fallout of the last year, the Church’s response has been the most disappointing and soul-crushing of them all. I can barely speak about the heartbreak of closed churches, the denial of sacraments, the loss of Holy Week and Easter, the dispensation from Sunday/Holy Day obligation (which is inexplicably ongoing), and all the rest. There was a complete and immediate capitulation by the Church to the state—sometimes even when governors did not require it! As a friend said recently: The Church had a golden opportunity to prove herself different from the world, to stand out as a refuge from the madness—and she failed catastrophically. Instead of presenting herself as the glorious, Christ-appointed means of salvation for souls in a dark and desperate time, she practically tripped over herself in a race to be designated “non-essential” to the world. This in contrast to the “essential” liquor stores, marijuana dispensaries, big box stores, fast food restaurants—and abortion mills. It shocks the conscience that while the secular sacrament of child murder churned on unabated, the sacraments of Christ—the ordinary means of sanctifying grace and salvation!—were forbidden to us by the decree of our huddled and compliant spiritual fathers.
To avoid a full rant that would span pages, let me focus on one point, and then we can discuss in the comment section the many other aspects of this cultivated hypochondria—this mass psychosis—that we have been living for the past year.
So here goes. Mandated masks at Mass. The command to cover our countenance during worship is strictly and dogmatically enforced by the same bishops who have, ironically, been lax about (and even hostile to) the actual requirements of sacred liturgy and doctrine for decades. The sentiments of countless faithful are summed up in this comment I received recently in a private message:
“I’m so tired of being told that I have to wear a mask to be charitable. Our pastor actually accused those of us who wouldn’t wear masks to Mass of sins against charity, because it made others too afraid to come back to Mass.”
Yep. The faithful are being told that we are sinning against others if we do not affix upon our faces a useless cloth that exists only to signal and soothe—and amounts to a talisman. We have heard even good and rational priests privately explain to their mask-resistant parishioners that masking is required to allay others’ fears. They know enough not to mention health. Every rational mind knows that this is not about health.
Here’s the question: Is it our moral responsibility to make other people “feel comfortable” so that they will attend Mass?
Well, certainly, if we are talking about mere manners or politeness, then we should be as polite, mannerly, and respectful of others as possible (check #13, here). But this is not that.
Always check the underlying principle. Christian moral principles are the basis for all of our decisions as Catholics. So, leaving aside the specifics of masks and Mass, let’s think about the principle being assumed here: “It’s our moral obligation to make others feel comfortable, even if doing so goes against reason.”
Catholics should know that this is garbage thinking. I mean, it’s certainly the thinking of contemporary secular society (the entire cancel culture and political correctness is based on that principle), but it’s never been Christian thinking. Christian truth holds that emotions must always be subordinate to the intellect and will.
Thus the bishops, mandating via unsound principle, are teaching the souls in their care—including children—to reason wrongly. Let’s test out the faulty principle, to see what our kids are being taught. Use your imagination and extrapolate the principle of “we must make other folks feel comfortable even if it goes against reason” to the following scenarios:
Your young son is enticed by a stranger in the park’s bathroom.
Your daughter is alone with her unchaste boyfriend.
Your teen is asked by friends to get high, to cheat on a test, to shoplift.
Would your child know to stay strong and do the right thing—the hard thing—if he had been taught by the adults in his life, and even the Church, the principle of “consider others’ feelings above truth”?
What we need to understand is that obedience has limits. Teach your children that, no… we do not obey the unreasonable. Some might argue that even though mandated masking at Mass is unreasonable (as many priests privately admit), it is not harmful. However, I believe mandated masking at Mass is incredibly harmful, and I welcome that discussion in the comment section. But in short, the Mystical Body of Christ does not feed delusion (which goes against truth) or stoke fear (which goes against love).
For your consideration, I have attached a sermon below that is explosive. The priest explains that obedience is to be guided by reason and prudence, and he contrasts St. Ignatius of Loyola’s teaching on obedience to that of St. Thomas Aquinas (they are not the same). Then he gives an example from modern psychology experiments that will chill you. Fallen humanity is weak and fearful, and we need the Church to operate firmly on the principles of truth and reason, to keep us strong when we are tempted to fall. What we don't need is a Church that goes along with the world’s madness.
Where is the Church?
