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The Catholic Calendar for Monday, September 2, 2002 The Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Psalm 119:97-102 Luke 4:16-30 A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture: "They led him to the brow of the hill... to hurl him down headlong." (see Luke 4:29) The past sixty years have brought drastic changes in both the style and content of our homilies and hence to our Faith. I recall priests climbing steps to the pulpit and proclaiming God's Word, His unornamented and unabridged truth, His unfailing forgiveness and love to those who repent and turn from sin. However, Vatican II gave impetus to the Modernism that had already begun to invade the Church. Diluted Gospels and misrepresentations of Councilar Documents presented by some priests and theologians sought to fill the pews by promoting a democratization of the Church, a relenting of the more difficult requirements of our Faith. The feel-good generation must not be told anything that might contradict their feeling good about themselves. Papal authority was challenged; chastity and sexual morality were blinked away; sin was no longer thought a serious matter; God was depicted as an over-indulgent Father whose love for His children would excuse every transgression. And so, they made a mockery of Christ's suffering and death, implied that His cross was unnecessary to expiating our sins; we could "go it on our own" without forgiveness (Confession); self-denial and the sharing of Christ's cross were outmoded; we could ignore God-given grace and forget about living holy lives. Our present Pope tried to counteract these trends through the publication of the New Catholic Catechism which explains our Faith and provides the rationale for each of our beliefs, their foundation in Scripture. He has personally written many documents such as "The Splendor of Truth" to counteract errors and distortions. This has simply caused most Bishops to ignore these teachings, not pass them along to the "faithful." Some vocal antagonists have called for his resignation from the Papacy and even suggested that his death would be welcomed by them. And so it was 2,000 years ago when Christ sought to save the world. Ask not why our Church is in crisis today. Redeemer God, may Isaiah's prophesy, fulfilled in You, at last penetrate our hardened hearts and revive our languishing souls. Amen - Marie L. Bocko ocds ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God! Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters at: http://www.borg.com/~joachim/DailyMeds.html (case sensitive) Also, the meditations are now in weblog form at http://dailymed.blogspot.com/ ARCHIVED Meditations: http://www.abcsoffaith.com/quiet/quietplace.html and at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c)1986-2002 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms (c)1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copy-right owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.Text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm Lives of the Saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/ |
Title: Meditation: Monday, September 2, 2002
