Reading the comments on virtually any news site, as long as the story has to do with the Pope of Rome's resignation, or church governance, or religion in general, is sufficient to convince anyone that the world views the Catholic clergy as something altogether odious. To Protestants, secularists and even many Catholic laymen the Catholic clergy are pedophiles (more colloquially "baby-rapers"), criminals and/or sexual deviants on account of their celibate life-style. There is no doubt that this is what they truly think of us. At the same time, however, the question is, "Should we care?"
The answer to that question has to be "no," and not for any reasons of bitterness or hatred, but because caring about what the world thinks is going to make the problem worse, not better. The Prophet David was certainly right when he calls out: "Let the nations rage-- those who boast of their worthless gods." Secularists want something completely different out of life and existence than we do. Their desires appear to us as vanity. We have warned them that their values are vacuous, but they regard us as discredited and ridiculous. We have warned them, but they have not heard us. It is time to let them go their way, and follow the example of the Lord Jesus. "When He was insulted, He returned no insult. When He was made to suffer, He did not counter with threats, but gave Himself up to the one who judged Him unjustly." This is a fascinating verse, since in some versions it ends with "He gave Himself up to the One Who judged Him justly." The latter reading is referring to the Father, while the former is referring to the Sanhedrin, the High Priest Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate. Whatever version you like, the truth remains the same. In order to give yourself up the One Who will judge you justly (God), you have to give yourself up to the one who judges you unjustly (the Pilates of your life). So, let them think what they like. It is, after all, they who hate. We hate no one.
But here is a further nagging question: How can we be effective witnesses to truth, if we are perceived as sexual deviants, discredited, and evil? The only possible answer to that question is: We can't. We can't effectively witness to truth. The best thing to do is to admit it, accept it and get on with the task at hand. If we try to continue to preach the truth to the secular society, we will only bring ridicule on the truth itself. I remember well the touching story of the Clown of God, an Italian folktale that was retold and illustrated by Tomie da Paola some years ago. The clown grows to great fame on account of his ability to juggle, eventually building an act in which he juggles many different things, drawing large crowds all over the country. But he grows old and people become tired of his displays, and, eventually, he even begins to drop things. In the end, he is ridiculed, hated and even forcibly driven from town after town. In his old age, he is penniless. In the end, he is attracted to a church where the feast of the Nativity of the Lord is being celebrated. He enters the church and witnesses the glory of the festive celebration. After the service is ended, he conceives a great desire in his heart to offer something to the newborn Lord. He wishes he had something to give. He decides to juggle one last time before the altar. He gives his whole heart to the performance for the Lord, and during the high point of the act, he suddenly dies, collapsing before the altar. Some Franciscan friars find him there, and, to their astonishment, they find the statue of the Lord Jesus over the altar holding the golden ball that was centerpiece of the clown's act. Faced with the ultimate failure of his life, the clown found success in prayer. In the same way, we have to change our priorities, put all our energy into interiority, and become people of prayer. Similarly in the time of Noah, the world heard Noah's warnings and denunciations, but at a certain point, Noah had to enter the ark and seal it.
When we really think about it, this is not a big change. We are no longer going to be esteemed in this society. Quite the opposite, we are going to be despised as sexual deviants. But our ancestors were thought by secular society to be sexual deviants, too. The early Christian community was widely labeled as miscreants because of their supposed practice of incest and cannibalism. Many centuries later, the Catholic clergy here in the United States were despised again for similar reasons, when falsehoods were printed and widely disseminated in such publications as The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk in the Hotel-Dieu de Montreal and its sequels. Ultimately, the libelous books were proven to be lies, but a generation of non-Catholics believed them. We are no longer going to be esteemed in this society, but that gives us an opportunity to be further conformed to Christ: "Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, no appearance that would attract us to him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men turn away, and we held him in no esteem."
We have to become intent on prayer. Our Christianity by necessity must be less preachy and more prayerful. Our Year of Faith, which was proclaimed by Benedict XVI, the Pope of Rome, is a perfect opportunity for us to do accomplish this.
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