If you feel like me at this point in our Catholic Church’s
history, you are probably, at a minimum, confused and frustrated. What’s going on here? Our spiritual leadership
often appears out of sync with well-established tradition and theological history. Silence
and seemingly contradictory actions do not help to clarify matters. Preciseness
is woefully lacking on various moral issues and theological teaching. Help!
To me, this is indeed a diabolical spiritual crisis
of the greatest proportions. How do we deal with a spiritual crisis
of such magnitude? Let me remind you of today’s Gospel passage:
A violent squall came up and waves
were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in
the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you
not care that we are perishing?” (Mk. 4: 37-38)
Is Jesus once again sleeping while the ship (the Church)
seems to be sinking? Remember how quickly things change at the word of His
command:
“Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased
and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you
terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” (Mk. 4: 39-40)
In addition, I recall a story from Jesus’ ministry where the
disciples could not cure someone and they looked to Jesus for the
reason why they could not perform the miracle:
“I brought [my son] to your
disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O
faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How
long will I endure you? Bring him here to me.” Jesus
rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then
the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it
out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I
say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this
mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will
be impossible for you.” (Mt. 17: 16-20)
It was the lack of faith that Jesus pointed out as
the reason for their inability to act. “But when the Son of Man comes,
will he find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:8) We seem to be living in a time where supernatural faith is missing-in-action.
At a time of spiritual warfare, this is certainly not a
good situation. Faith must be nurtured before it is lost entirely.
Our faith tells us that Jesus, the Son of God, continues to
remain with the Church He established. “And behold, I am with
you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt.
28:20) He is
truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist, in the Sacred Scriptures, in all the
Sacraments, and in His Mystical Body, the Church.
Undoubtedly, there will continue to be tribulations now as
there was from the very moment when Jesus established His Church on St. Peter,
the Rock—who had denied Him three times! Need we also be reminded that
eleven of the twelve Apostles were missing from the foot of the cross, and
Judas—one of Christ’s hand-picked twelve—turned traitor? Clearly, supernatural problems
require supernatural solutions. Prayer and fasting are a must. Praying
the Rosary daily has been continually requested by Our Lady:
The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new
efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no
problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all
spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families . . . that
cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how
difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. Sister Lucia dos Santos (Seer of Fatima)
The Blessed Mother’s intercession is absolutely essential to
the solution:
Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life
without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the
rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world
today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother. St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
I believe that the Sacred Heart of Jesus and
the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph in the end. Getting
to that point, however, is definitely not for the faint of heart and for those
without a strong faith!
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor
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