"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:41-42).
Our Lord spoke these words about the city of Jerusalem, but they could easily be applied to Ireland in the wake of its shameful referendum yesterday legitimizing homosexual marriage.
The faithful isle has become a whore; the land of saints and sages has become drunk with the abominations of the nations and is reeling in its inebriation. Éire has betrayed St. Patrick. Éire has betrayed the Irish martyrs. Éire has betrayed its own constitution, which begins with the words, "In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred, We, the people of Éire, Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial..."
Yes, a disappointment to all Catholics, especially those who love the Catholic heritage of Ireland. Yet it is hard to tell what is more disappointing, the referendum results, or the lame excuses offered by the Irish Church's prelates. Rorate Caeli has documented how the bishops of Dublin and Derry offered the most mediocre, ambiguous, limp-wristed resistance to the vote, basically telling Irish Catholics that it was better to vote 'Yes' than to vote 'No' for the "wrong reasons."
After the vote, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin placed the blame squarely on the Church, conveniently omitting any mention of the degenerate morals of his flock.
After the vote, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin placed the blame squarely on the Church, conveniently omitting any mention of the degenerate morals of his flock.
“I think really that the church needs to do a reality check, a reality check right across the board, to look at the things it’s doing well, to look at the areas where we really have to start and say, ‘Look, have we drifted away completely from young people?’ ”
This reveals immediately the error in his thinking. If a reality check is needed, it is not because the Church has "drifted away" from young people - indeed, the Church doesn't drift away from people, people drift away from the Church - rather, the reality check needed is that this wishy-washy affirming dialogue centered nonsense that passes for Catholicism in most of the West is incapable of attracting young people. They're bored to tears with it. It means nothing to them. It's a fundamental failure of "modern" Catholicism.
But does the Archbishop recognize this? Nooooo. Of course not. The problem isn't that the Church has reformed; it's that she hasn't reformed far enough! More dialogue! More new language! More reaching out!
"It’s very clear that if this referendum is an affirmation of the views of young people, then the church has a huge task in front of it to find the language to be able to talk to and to get its message across to young people, not just on this issue, but in general.”
Somebody tell the Archbishop that the "language" needed to address this issue does not need to be "found." It has always been here in the Church's traditional moral theology, which has always taught that homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity and that even the homosexual tendency is intrinsically disordered.
Yet, for Archbishop Martin, the problem is not the immorality of homosexual acts but rather hand-wringing concerns that the Catholic Church is becoming a "safe space for the like-minded." He dislikes the clear moral teaching proposed by the Catholic Tradition. Instead he prefers to lounge about in Satan's favorite area, the grayscale:
“We need to find...a new language which is fundamentally ours, that speaks to, is understood and becomes appreciated by others. We tend to think in black and white but most of us live in the area of grey, and if the church has a harsh teaching, it seems to be condemning those who are not in line with it. But all of us live in the grey area. All of us fail. All of us are intolerant. All of us make mistakes. All of us sin and all of us pick ourselves up again with the help of that institution which should be there to do that."
Gray area indeed. This sounds like the realm of the lukewarm, and we know what Christ said about that. Is it not obvious that this is the voice of Satan speaking through this man?
He wraps up his interview with this gem:
“The church’s teaching, if it isn’t expressed in terms of love - then it’s got it wrong."
Of course, truth must always be spoken in love. The problem with these days however is that the truth isn't spoken at all. The Archbishop made the most equivocating, minimal resistance to the homosexual marriage referendum; and then, when it unsurprisingly passed, blamed the Church for "getting it wrong" and "drifting away" from the young and now calls for "a new language" to rectify the problem he helped create.
The solution for the problems created by the revolution is always more revolution, isn't it Archbishop Martin?
So, where are the angry counter protests? Where are heroic calls by the country's Catholic politicians and clergy for repeal? Where are the spirited vows that same sex so-called marriage will never be recognized by Catholic Ireland, regardless of the law of the land? Not a peep. Martin could care less. I personally believe the man is relieved that this issue is "settled", as he now has the luxury of throwing up his hands and saying, "It's the law of the land. What can I do?"
Indeed.
In the beginning of this post, I cited our Lord's lament over Jerusalem and suggested it could be applied to Ireland. In fact, it could probably be applied to western civilization in its entirety, which continues to decay because it does not know what will bring it peace. But if this passage does apply to western civilization, let us also remember how the passage ends:
"See how the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice! Righteousness used to dwell in her- but now murderers!"(Isaiah 1:21)
24 comments:
"...the reality check... wishy-washy affirming dialogue centered nonsense that passes for Catholicism... It's a fundamental failure of "modern" Catholicism."
Exactly right! Well said!
The college students I chat with at daily Mass are tired of the nonsense foisted upon them by aged hippies. They want the Mass undefiled. Many attend a local TLM or the Anglican Ordinariate Liturgy because most parishes are rife with goofy theology and trashy liturgy.
The young priests in our diocese—we have a couple and more on the way, thanks be to God and a faithful priest who is theologically and liturgically solid—celebrate the Mass reverently with attention to detail. They look frustrated when the older priests start improvising. Frankly, these two younger priests I have the privilege of knowing are by far the better preachers. I make a point of attending one of their Masses on Sundays. So many other (older) priests are simply a joke in a chasuble... if they actually wear a chasuble.
Are we really surprised at this? Loss will follow loss, and that is God's will. He cried for Jerusalem, I hope He cries for Europe too. I only hope to be able and cry for her, and not hate her and love her death. I would wish for fire too like the apostle, but only to end the suffering.
Amen
Well said.
I cry in loss of what Europe was, cry for regret of what she could be, and cry in frustration at what she is.
For me it's personal. It's a staggering thought that SSM is now the law in Ireland. My family left Ireland many generations ago and settled on the East Coast of Canada. We were steeped in the holy water of Catholicism, and to question the church's "Deposit of Faith" was unthinkable. Then Vat ll happened. I'm the only one in my family of siblings and their families who is still faithful, with a few detours, to the Teaching Church. They are either atheists or accept only the doctrines they approve of.
Your portrayal of Archbishop Martin as a slimy Judas priest(my words) is deadly accurate. He recognizes no authority higher than his own private judgement, even though he would never concede to that ugly truth without profound repentance. I hope, for the sake of his immortal soul that his conscience drives him to desperation and to his knees in submission to Christ and His Church's moral doctrines. Like so many bishops and priests worldwide he belongs to the "Church of Nice". Which is to say he is a slave to the sin of pride.
Once has to be amazed at the diabolic genius of the homosexual movement that can only demonstrate its origins from the pit. They create a crisis by their extraordinary sexual abuse in the Clergy and Religious of the West which they superabundantly rewarded for in financial terms, divert billions from meaningful medical research to fight a venereal disease that afflicts them and erode the rational coherence of human sexuality to the point that none of their diseases, dysfunctions and crimes are considered only their right to be overvalue and granted the right to counterfeit marriage.
What does the Church have to stop them in the earthly realm? A garrulous ninny who utters such banalities as "Who am I to judge?"
I live in Bantry in the County of Cork, Eire.
The wolfish howls of "Yes!" following yesterday's approval of the Irish "Same Sex" referendum were virtually assured through the quiescence of the Irish Catholic episcopate and, when not entirely dumb, its dissembling, mumbling, and bumbling over the real moral, ethical, and social core of the matter.
For Heaven's sake our very Constitutional preamble states:
"In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred, We, the people of Éire, Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ,..." and surely renders this amendment a blasphemous appendage at best.
"But the chief priests and elders had persuaded the multitude to ask for Barabbas and have Jesus put to death; and so, when the governor openly asked them, Which of the two would you have me release? they said, Barabbas." Matthew 27:20-21
So much for the free and fair voting choice of the mob.
One only has to read the overwhelming result of this vote to surmise the vigour and sentiments of the Catholic shepherds.
And let us not delude ourselves. The failure to vigorously intervene in the perpetration of public blasphemy and societal disintegration, much less offer frequent, public, and reasoned objections, condones and gives countenance to the evil being done.
Pray the rosary and pray for this once Catholic nation who alone among all the Nations has shaken its fist in the Face of the Almighty defying Him to disapprove of this cult of man.
That's a good way to put it, Boniface. I feel nothing at all really.
An interesting thing is how this was hardly news, at least not in my part of the world. A little notice on the front-page lower right corner and not even a half a page on page 14; saying the obvious and a few words on how the "catholic church" was quiet most likely because of "pedophilic scandals". That made me draw a smile. As Europe sees it, the march of the Enlightened Enlightened Human continues, knocking over insignificant sand-castles as it passes. And aren't they right? This vote only made come into being what had already happened in the people. Those words in the constitution that are repeated were lies, and have been for quite a while. Now it is out.
Yep. The vote merely ratified what the degenerate populace had already assented to.
May I suggest that when you (rightly) excoriate the result of the Irish vote, you not do it with such sweeping generalizations? I live in Ireland and there were perhaps 1/3 of the electorate that voted against this obscenity. It pains to read such overarching criticism without any nuance or distinction which would allow that any number of Irish effectively suffered a 'dry martyrdom' publicly championing the Catholic/Christian doctrine of marriage. There is worse to come for sure, but please try to avoid stigmatizing all Irish (or Europeans for that matter) as morally ignorant supine vassals
of the State.
Peace and pray the Rosary every day.
Liam,
Fair comments. Although I do think that those of us who live in democracies understand how the setting of the policy by the 51% works, and when statements are made about the results of an election, it is always implied and understood that there is a faithful resistance.
I would not hesitate to call my own countrymen in America degenerate, worthless, ignorant, etc. even though I know there are millions who fight against this corruption - it is understood I am not including them in the comments, only the majority who supports such abominations.
Pax
Liam,
as Boniface says the faithful minority to remnant is assumed and excepted. But I would argue that you and your companions are not "true Irishmen" because you are faithful Catholics. The identity of the nations are not unchangeable - once the Irish were pagans, now the Irish will be secular, following all of Europe. Half of Europe once went from a Catholic identity to a Protestant one, and in our age to secularism. You are now, truly, good Irishmen, Catholic Irishmen. The only identity for you and me that is true and unchangeable, the one all others are subordinate to, is our Catholic identity. You are one European people and I am another, but neither of our peoples are Catholic any more. Mine for four-hundred years, yours for fourty.
Is this offensive?
I write secular instead of pagan again, because there are things I admire in the pagans.
I understand, Boniface, but lest you break the bruised reed, it might be best to spare those who are not guilty of the offence that gets us worked up. Otherwise, we might lapse into some sort of Jesuitically contrived over-broad castigation of our brethren, a meat axe approach practised even at the very top these days.
Peace.
"And he said, 'Do not be angry with me, Lord, I entreat thee, for making one more plea still; what if ten are found there?
I will spare it from destruction, he said, to save ten.'
So God finished speaking to Abraham, and left him, and Abraham turned and went home. Genesis 18:32-33
And thereafter Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire.
Another masterful analysis, Boniface. Thank you.
BREAKING NEWS!!! Kettle is black, says Pot in exclusive interview.
Seriously, the only reason to be exceptionally upset about this is the fact that Ireland's history (except for the most recent history) would have made us hope for so much better. Otherwise, it's the same thing that's happening all over. By the end of Obama's administration, "gay marriage" will be the law of the land in the USA -- count on it. The generations just being born will grow up to react against their elders like John Walker Lindh. (Look up his family life.) Much of this is probably unavoidable now, but some of it may yet be avoided, and we can start preparing for what comes after.
Of, since you like the sound of biblical quotes of dubious applicability, we could do this:
"The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican." Luke 18:11
@ Tom Healy
Re your comment: "Your portrayal of Archbishop Martin as a slimy Judas priest(my words) is deadly accurate."
Please pray for His Grace instead of using such incendiary terms. You have no idea what the state of his soul is.
@Tom Healy:
"Your portrayal of Archbishop Martin as a slimy Judas priest(my words) is deadly accurate."
Please pray for His Grace instead of using incendiary terms like the above. You don't know the state of his soul.
Well Siobhan, words do mean things, and while I can't see into his heart, his comments and the way he handled this give us a fairly good idea of the state of his soul as a matter of fact.
@Boniface,
My take on what Siobhan Casey points out is that in our holy indignation we must not strike off Malchus' ear.
Off with his ear!
Bravo! Definitely correct that people have drifted from the Church, NOT the other way around. So the nation has become a festering pit of Baal worshipers, what is the response? Certainly not conciliation. The offending members of the clergy who helped this abomination along should be excommunicated, and the Church should affirm its stand on this issue, AGAINST the pathetic government. Be the counterculture. Do not come begging on your knees for forgiveness.
The Modernist is the enemy of God.
@Mark Citadel,
You state "So the nation has become a festering pit of Baal worshipers (sic)...". You might want to ease up a tad, Boyo, lest the 1/3 of Irish voters who held fast take offence at your rather sweeping generalizations.
I do not know what nation you call home, but I surmise its politicians, churchmen, and citizenry are superb representatives of Catholic ethics, doctrine, and social mores. I would also suppose that the aforementioned have successfully kept divorce, abortion, gay marriage, and the like at bay, having striven to establish the Kingship of Christ in your society.
By the way, what Kingdom do you call home?
In all seriousness, as Voltaire is credited with having said:
"May God defend me from my friends: I can defend myself from my enemies."
Peace, Friend. I suspect we are on the same side but your ferocity is off-putting.
nvm Boniface, don't post my comment against Mark, it's true but what's the use
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