It seems we
will hear the name Amy Coney Barrett in the weeks ahead. She has been nominated
for the Supreme Court.
What is
disheartening is the attack on her Catholic Faith – Diane Feinstein famously
said in 2017 – “Your Catholic dogma lives loudly in you and that is a concern.”
Bill Maher
recently said – she is Catholic, really Catholic. I mean really, really
Catholic. She’s a _____nut.
She is a
mother of seven – two adopted Haitian children and one with Downs Syndrome – a devout
Catholic – she is a nut.
Former Sen.
Joe Lieberman has rightly cautioned all – “you can disagree with someone based
on whether she is pro-life or pro-choice – but when you start to say that you
are against them because their religion, in this case, their Roman Catholicism
determines their point of view, you are doing something really abhorrent that I
think is bigoted, is un-American, and, incidentally, is unconstitutional. “
But this is
the situation Catholics are in. Many want us – as they say – cancelled. The
Knights of Columbus are an extreme organization. Churches have been desecrated –
statues have been vandalized.
So where do
we stand? Let us notice the man who was asked to go to out to work on the vineyard.
He said yes at first, but later, did not go. Why did he fall away? Is it too
hard, to do the will of the Father? Does it mean - going against the grain, to
stand up for your faith, for what you believe?
For some, it
is one of the deadly sins – Sloth – Aquinas – sorrow in regard to spiritual
goods. Just fall away. No energy for spiritual good. Lethargy. Medievals called
it “the noonday devil.” Like going to class after lunch – rather take a nap!
We call it
secularism. It just does not matter. What’s the difference? Who cares? Any
faith is OK. My truth – your truth. We become more interested in the things of the
world – indifferent to spiritual matters.
Is this why
less than 25% Catholics go to Mass? – and after this pandemic is over, many
think it will be less.
What have we
forgotten? That we were made by God – loved into existence. We have a reason - a
purpose for being - a mission. As St. John Henry Newman said – “We have been
made for some definite purpose . . . “
The time is
coming when we will find out what we are made of. Some will turn their back on
their faith. Some will wander away. Some will wilt under the criticism. But I
dare say many of us are convinced that Jesus is the Christ – the meaning of
human existence. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And we want to give
our lives for him and the church he has founded.
Some of us,
like the other son, may have said no – maybe no for a long time – but now –
maybe it’s time – say yes to God, your faith, your church.
Oskar Shindler
was baptized a Catholic, but when Hitler came to power, he became a Nazi. He
drank too much, he gambled too much. He was not faithful in marriage. And he
tried to make money using Jewish slave labor. But then, he began to really see
what was going on – these Jews were human beings, too. He tried to save as many
as possible. He ended up saving thousands. Today there is one Nazi buried in
Jerusalem. Oskar Shindler. A no became a yes. Do not let your yes become a no.
