Why Should We Bother? by David Warren

They Didn’t Succeed in Silencing Us. Now We Must be Louder Than Ever, by John-Henry Westen 
September 13, 2019
Fr. Roger J. Landry: The Real Presence: Knowing What We Are Doing
September 13, 2019

*Image: The Good Samaritan by an unknown artist, c. 6thcentury [Rossano Cathedral, Rossano, Italy]. The image is from an illuminated Gospel also known as Codex purpureus Rossanensis due to the reddish-purple appearance of its pages.

By David Warren, The Catholic Thing, Sept. 13, 2019

David Warren

There is a question any Catholic homilist could ask when he looks over almost any congregation. It is one of those “modern” questions: “Why, indeed, did we come here? Would we not be happier somewhere else?”

From the view of the pew-sitting congregant, the same question may arise. I am assuming he is “a man of little faith,” like most moderns. He half-believes. He was brought up that way. But he believes himself to be conscientious.

He has committed no major crimes in private life, at least nothing mentioned in the criminal code.

He has no strong opinion on what a mortal sin might be. In earlier life, he may have had, but since then it has worn down. There may be some mild curiosity in his head, about what the priest believes; but as a modern, emancipated soul, he knows this is none of his business.

More likely he has heard, in all forms of the mass entertainment media, about priests and nuns who have committed egregious offences. Some of these he may in fact have committed himself, without worrying too much about it. How much, for instance, does fornication matter these days? ….

 

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