Cardinal Maradiaga's Dallas speech - not to be confused with JR Ewing's Dallas speech, has been analysed posthumously above by the late Michael Jackson and Michael Voris below. It would be lovely to think that one day Subway will give out free food for the homeless between 3pm and 5pm every Friday, but unless a deeply committed Catholic (or Buddhist/Hindu/atheist) obtains a franchise - it probably is never going to happen. Even then, if he did, he'd have to ensure he didn't tell the Head Office.
Regardless of my deep distrust of Latin American liberation theology, because it has a tendency to remove our need for Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection from the Church's mission of Salvation, I do love the idea of the Catholic Church humanising capitalism and encouraging everyone to love and give to the poor.
It's a lovely thing - the whole idea of it. The sad thing is that the enthusiasm generated from speeches like that of the Cardinal tend not to actually translate into anything concretely aimed at helping transform society to be more 'just' and 'humane'. This kind of thing usually makes people feel good inside and people end up pretending that talking about it is equivalent to doing it. Haven't people been talking about the social justice elements of the Second Vatican Council for about 40 years?
Clearly Pope Francis has a talented 'inner circle'. I guess you could tango to this. The Mardiaga speech, if you take away the fact that he is a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, could more or less have been made by a Buddhist or, with some little modifications to the speech, an atheist. This recipe of secular humanism cake with a bit of Jesus as icing powder sprinkled on top is essentially about doing good, being caring and compassionate - healing the world - but it doesn't separate us in any distinct way from the World.
Regardless of my deep distrust of Latin American liberation theology, because it has a tendency to remove our need for Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection from the Church's mission of Salvation, I do love the idea of the Catholic Church humanising capitalism and encouraging everyone to love and give to the poor.
It's a lovely thing - the whole idea of it. The sad thing is that the enthusiasm generated from speeches like that of the Cardinal tend not to actually translate into anything concretely aimed at helping transform society to be more 'just' and 'humane'. This kind of thing usually makes people feel good inside and people end up pretending that talking about it is equivalent to doing it. Haven't people been talking about the social justice elements of the Second Vatican Council for about 40 years?
Gosh. Now that's what I call a sax solo.
Clearly Pope Francis has a talented 'inner circle'. I guess you could tango to this. The Mardiaga speech, if you take away the fact that he is a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, could more or less have been made by a Buddhist or, with some little modifications to the speech, an atheist. This recipe of secular humanism cake with a bit of Jesus as icing powder sprinkled on top is essentially about doing good, being caring and compassionate - healing the world - but it doesn't separate us in any distinct way from the World.
If tomorrow the World became loving, caring and 'sharing' and we men and women acted justly and humanely, we men and women would still need Our Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. For this reason, I am convinced that if the Antichrist appeared tomorrow, not just laity, but hoards of Bishops, Priests and Cardinals would go over to him because it is most likely that when such a man does appear, he'll be a 'peace and justice' kind of a guy, only with supernatural abilities, while laity, Bishops, Priests and Cardinals who no longer believe in the supernatural Reality of the Church will be defenceless against his wiles.
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| Smooth-talkin' guy: The Antichrist |
If it does not, there is a big problem. Proclaiming that we have a need for Salvation separates us from the World. Proclaiming that He is our Salvation also separates us from the World. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come to heal the world. He came to heal sinners. He did even not come to save the world. He came to save sinners. Before He wants us to touch and transform the world around us, He wants to touch our wounded souls and save us. He loves us more tenderly than we can imagine and desires an intimate relationship with us - not with 'society'.
A relationship with God the Father, through the Son, in the power and unity of the Holy Spirit is what He comes to bring to us. That is the main Event in the life of each man and woman in this World and how the Devil would prefer that we did not think of it. The Devil is not stupid. He is abhorrently, mind-bogglingly evil, but one thing he is not is dumb. His intelligence is angelic not human. He knows our reluctance to turn to God, our weakness, anxieties and fears. He knows that the Gospel and Our Lord's words really can be twisted and selected and spun to divorce them from His Teaching and His mission to save souls - a mission He has entrusted to His Bride, the Catholic Church - His Body - to continue in His Name after His Ascension, united to Him, the Head.
Following Our Lord Jesus Christ separates His followers from the World. For this reason the Catholic Church has known periods of excruciating persecution. When the World and the Church meet, embrace and kiss, it is most likely that Jesus Christ and following Him has fallen off the agenda for the Church. It is then - then - that the morality of the Church falls, like a 'house of cards'. I am sure that the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary will have assisted in anything that is good in this blogpost. Therefore, thank you for the postcard, Blessed Mother!
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