Fighting Back

The Vigil (1884) - John Pettie

Let me be as clear as possible: the attacks by the mainstream media are not mere efforts at good, solid "investigative journalism" as some claim, even from within the Church. As the Holy Father himself said, there are stronger and more insidious forces at work here. Those forces apparently don't break through into our plane of existence, but they can influence us for good or ill. At our most susceptible, we are finger puppets to the powers and principalities.

I will go further: I suspect that some within the Church herself have, shall we say, "authority issues" with bishops and hierarchical figures and as such have a secret (or not so secret) hankering to see episcopal figures get theirs. I won't accuse; I have my own sin-sickness issues. But I will warn that nothing good will come of this kind of wanting to see those with whom some feel model/rivalry knocked down a peg or two. Let those without sin cast the first stone.

But, and I mean this with all charity possible, the Catholic Church is not knocked back on her heels and staggering, by any means. From the secular power and authority of the Oval Office (sans a Winston Churchill bust that was sent packing as I Wun entered) to the editorial offices of the NYT and WaPo, to the screenwriters of such films as Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur, and Agora, a steady and non-stop effort to castigate the credibility of the Holy Catholic Church in particular and the Christian faith in general is going apace.

It is time for all good souls to engage in fierce and committed Marian chivalry, engaging with the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. If not you, who will do it? If not now, when?