Republican Party: Tea Party versus the Establishment

Two Republican Movements:

In decades past the Republican Party used to be home to both social and fiscal conservatism. However, during the most recent decade there has been a movement by establishment Republicans away from Christian values such as the sanctity of marriage and drawing closer towards Secular-liberal values. It is important to note that with each step away from socially conservative values there has been, at the same time, a step towards Big Government programs. Both of these movements are not only concurrent but they are inseparably related. Historically, as Christian morality waned, the State waxed strong! Perhaps this accounts for the concerns the Tea Party has with the direction the Republican Party has taken. And no doubt, these concerns have given rise to a tension between the Tea Party Republicans and the establishment Republicans.


The Establishment:

Establishment Republicans are politicians that are deferential to the mainstream media and are less socially conservative than traditional Christians are. They care about what Democrats, the media, academia and even Hollywood think of them. This is why when they are interviewed by David Gregory at Meet the Press, Bob Schieffer at Face the Nation or Matt Lauer at Today, they act like polite and docile candidates at a job interview. These establishment-types rarely take the media to task face to face. More often than not, they cower from challenging the news anchors and the ideology they operate under.

These Republicans also hold on to some semblance of conservatism but what drives them more than principle is political expediency. As I understand it, the question they ask themselves is not what is right or wrong, but what will work politically and what will advance the team. For them, not being a team player is a mortal sin. In other words, principles can be compromised but the will of the Republican establishment is inviolable. However, what is most disturbing about the Republican establishment is that they are being absorbed by Secular-liberalism. As rivers follow the path of least resistance so too do political currents; it is always shifting to the Left because it is the easier course.


Tea Party Agenda:

The Tea Party, on the other hand, did not originate in the political world of Washington, D.C. And to be sure, it does not breathe the same air as these career politicians. To make a long story short, what the Tea Party wants to do is bring a little bit of American pie to Washington; that is to say, their agenda is to bring the very principles which made the United States of America to Capitol Hill and if possible, to the White House as well. They are not concerned with the Republican Party per say. What they are attempted to do is to use the Republican Party to advance both social and fiscal conservative values and principles. The ever increasing movement towards Big Government program is an abomination to them.



Political Movements Favor the Left:

In order to slow down the Republican Establishment’s propensity to the Left, that is, to Secular-liberalism, it is important to know why this tendency exists to begin with and what had been found to stop it in the past. Secular-liberalism can be rightly characterized as a way of life which, like a river, follows the course of least resistance. This, no doubt, is a tendency of fallen human nature. Anything having anything to do with sacrifice, suffering or pain for the supporter of liberalism is, generally speaking, worthy of condemnation. Take your pick: abstinence, just war, corporeal punishment, keeping a baby conceived out-of-wedlock, stay-at-home motherhood, the uncertainty of a free market and moral absolutes in general are discouraged if not condemned.

Another offense to this ideology is inequality or the hierarchy of social status, religious truth or moral values. From this comes an aversion to any distinction between what is superior to that which is inferior. For instance, the Holy Trinity over false gods, truth over error, good over evil, friend over foe, success over failure, privilege over loss and merit over blame are contrasts which are deeply offensive to the Secular-liberal worldview.

In the end, if this political current is left unchecked, the ideals of sacrifice and suffering as well as the distinction between winners and losers will be seriously compromised.


Liberalism and Fallen Human Nature:

You see, while the Christian religion has grace on its side, Secular-liberalism has fallen human nature on theirs. But what does Conservatism have on its side? It relies principally on ideas. But ideas, more often than not, end up being shaped by desires, habits, lifestyles and bias. As such, ideas, without the support of religion, are rarely fixed or permanent. Indeed, it is the weakness of human nature to adapt our beliefs according to our ever changing habits rather than to conform our behaviors to absolute truths. This is why there have been many Conservatives lamenting that Conservatism is being redefined. It is said that its core beliefs are gradually being pushed to the Left. For that reason alone, conservative ideas are not enough to save America.

If you peel back the political layers, what we find is the rarely mentioned doctrine of Original Sin at work. You can say that the pleasures of the flesh, the love for convenience and subtle forms of narcissism are products of fallen human nature and that these natural inclinations keep the political currents moving “leftward.” This is why Secular-liberalism has the advantage over Conservatism; the strong tendency of fallen human nature favors it.

These leftward currents will continue to flow if there is not some kind of outside intervention to arrest and redirect it. In times past that outside intervention has been Christianity. Even if the Tea Party were to assume power in Washington, D.C., it too would eventually move towards the principles of Secular-liberalism if it did not invoke divine grace as a kind of anchor. Indeed, the preservation of liberty, progress and political prosperity is a stern discipline. It is based on the truth about God and human nature, but it also requires God’s grace to compensate for human weakness. It is important to remember that these blessings do not come naturally. They don’t just happen. Man must cooperate with God through the obedience of faith.




Diametrically Opposed Principles:

Alexis de Tocqueville said that the value of religion lies in its ability to offer diametrically opposed principles to any given nation. Without a check and balance and without an outside standard to gauge that which is good and evil, a nation will inevitably get lost because of its own biases and blind spots. G.K. Chesterton once said that the world needs the Church the most, not when it is right but when it is wrong! Just as an undisciplined child inevitably becomes intolerable, so too does a people become intolerable when it ceases to be corrected by a standard outside of itself.

Christ said without me you can do nothing. Many Conservatives and many Republicans may give some credence to our Lord’s claim as private citizens, but in so far as it pertains to the world of politics, most of them disregard it entirely. Yet, when Jesus said “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what if God’s,” what many politicians fail to take into consideration is that Caesar belongs to God too. This is why in the first millennium of the Christian era Catholic missionaries (i.e. bishops, priests and monks) would preach the Gospel to kings, princes and leaders of nations before they preached the Gospel to the people. With this strategy, not only did the light of Christ diffuse more rapidly throughout the land, their citizens benefited from a political rule which was tempered by God’s law.

The annals of world history tell us that freedom was the exception, not the rule. Political tyranny, instead, was the norm until Christianity came along. Therefore, liberty and progress will be better guaranteed when rulers and citizens embrace the Gospel.

In the meantime, the Republican Establishment will continue to gravitate to the political Left while the Tea Party continues to hang to whatever traditional values it can. As the two factions scrimmage over political territory, perhaps the Catholic Church should revisit an ancient missionary practice: Preach the Gospel directly to the politicians and call on them to accept Christ! After all, it is his life, his grace and his law that is the remedy to our political malaise.

Low Marriage Rates: A Social or a Church Problem?

Preface: CNA Report

On December 16th, 2011, the Michelle Bauman, reporting for Catholic News Agency, wrote a news article entitled, Record drop in US marriages caused by social changes. Here is just an excerpt:

"Washington D.C., Dec 16, 2011 / 06:17 am The fact that the number of Americans getting married is at a record low is due to changes in society’s values, public policy decisions and economic factors, says sociologist Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox.

He was responding to a Dec. 14 Pew Research analysis that indicates marriage rates in the U.S. are at a record low, as young couples are delaying marriage longer than ever before..."

Within the Church's tradition lies the answer to our social malaise. Negative trends such as the falling marriage rates have been reversed in the past; even under more dire circumstances. But it was only by the Catholic Church insisting on repentance from people within and outside of her fold. By making a clean break with sexual sin and embracing God's grace, the ideal of marriage was made more attractive.

Below is a 2010 post entitled, The Church's Role in Current Marriage Trends. The practices of the Apostles and the Church Fathers just may give us the answer.



The Church's Role in Current Marriage Trends

The Bishops Act:

In recent months [in 2010], U.S. Bishops in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia have been campaigning to keep traditional definition of marriage- between a man and a woman –as the only legally binding definition. For instance, the Massachusetts Catholic Conference stated in the Boston Herald News in late October that certain “moral and social issues are fundamentally important, since human rights are at stake and must be protected to help democracy to flourish in a way that benefits every citizen.” The statement went on to read: “These include the defense of the sanctity of life, the family based on marriage between a man and a woman…” The archbishop of the Twin Cities, Archbishop John Nienstedt, also assertively campaigned for the dignity of marriage by mailing a DVD (defending marriage as between one man and one woman) to 800,000 Catholics in the state of Minnesota.

There is a reason behind this refreshingly bold and unapologetic approach by many U.S. Bishops. And the reason is that the institution of marriage is being challenged on two fronts: Same-sex marriage, especially among the younger generations, has become widely accepted. Moreover, cohabitation among young adults is seen, with ever increasing frequency, as a viable alternative to marriage. Indeed, yesterday’s problem was divorce, but today’s problem is incentivizing couples to get married. If marriage, as opposed to cohabitation, requires more sacrifice and commitment, then why get married?


Marginalization of Marriage:

Indeed, for the first time in America's history a majority of young adults from ages 25 to 34are choosing not to get married. Cohabitation rates, especially among the lower classes, have risen sharply in recent years. The data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey and 2010 Current Population Survey confirms this. This is what they found:


• Between 2000 and 2009, the share of young adults ages 25 to 34 who are married dropped 10 percentage points, from 55 percent to 45 percent.

• Among the total population ages 18 and older, the proportion married dropped from 57 percent in 2000 to 52 percent in 2009.

• In 2008, non-marital births accounted for 41 percent of all births in the United States; although roughly half of these non-marital births are to cohabiting couples.

As one analyst said, "This is the lowest percentage recorded since information on marital status was first collected by the U.S. Census Bureau more than 100 years ago." The question Catholics should ask is: What relationship does the Catholic Church have with regard to these marriage trends? And how can she reverse it?


Permissive Standards:

No doubt, the Catholic Church has the highest doctrinal standards with regard to marriage. Her teachings on the indissolubility of marriage and contraception are just a few of the doctrines which are countercultural; that is, doctrines considered to be “too difficult” or “unrealistic” by the majority of Americans. However, the pastoral practices of the Church in these last five decades- especially with regard to marriage preparation –have not been countercultural at all; far from it, they have been quite accommodating. And here lies the problem.



High Standards Ensure Unity:

As a result of this accommodation, rates of cohabitation, divorce and the practice of contraception among Catholics are roughly the same as the rest of society. In other words, the Church in America is composed of members who fare no better in their personal holiness than non-Catholics. If the majority of Catholics fail to observe all the moral laws of Christ then the Church as a whole will be ineffective in her witness. As Pope Leo XIII said, “As souls cannot be perfectly united in charity unless minds agree in faith, he [Christ] wishes all to hold the same faith.” The power to do good and the ability to glorify God as a Church requires a united front. But a united front in action is only preceded by a union of minds.

Collectively, a union of minds and uniformity of action is essential. Just as important is the obligation of every Christian to accept and live out all that Jesus Christ taught. A very important Scripture passage in understanding the necessity of total fidelity to Christ’s teachings is from James 2:10: “For whoever keeps the whole law, but falls short in one particular, has become guilty in respect to all of it.” St. Augustine, just a few centuries later, elaborates on this principle by saying, "There can be nothing more dangerous than those heretics who admit nearly the whole cycle of doctrine, and yet by one word, as with a drop of poison, infect the real and simple faith taught by our Lord and handed down by Apostolic tradition." In other words, if a person is faithfull to nine out of the Ten Commandments, but is not observing the sixth commandment- "Thou shall not commit adultery," then it is as if he or she violated all the commandments. The same applies to fornication, contraception or any sexual sin. Using the analogy of St. Augustine, any one of these serious sins is like that drop of poison in a big glass of purified water. What good is the purified water if it contains one drop of poison?

Do not these passages from St. James and St. Augustine summarize, in a nutshell, why the Catholic Church has struggled to preserve the dignity of marriage in our culture? Is it not the case that in most marriage preparation programs couples who cohabitate are not required to repent from their sin before getting married in the Church? As such, they are neither trained in virtue for the sacrifices every marriage demands or prepared for eternity by repenting from the sin of pre-marital sex. This pastoral passivity speaks to the heart of the problem.


Go the Distance:

Before the 1960's, and especially in the first millennium, a common pastoral practice in the Catholic Church was that she required repentance from sin, especially serious sins, as a pre-condition for participating in the Sacraments. Also, throughout the centuries- leading up to the 1960's -if one was to enter the Church he or she had to believe everything Christ as taught by the Catholic Church. Picking and choosing was not an option.

It is encouraging to note that Archbishop Nienstedt of Minneapolis is attempting to dust off those ancient pastoral practices of the Church. He said, "I believe if you are going to be Catholic, that you have to be 100% Catholic…That you stand by the Church, you believe what the Church believes and you pass that on to your sons and daughters and your grandsons and granddaughters."


Don't Receive Them:

"Anyone who is so 'progressive' as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him in your house or even greet him; for whoever greets him shares in his evil works." (II John 9-11)

"Do not receive him in your house." In the first-century when St. John the Evangelist wrote these words the Church was eager- like we are today -to welcome as many people as possible into the fold. However, if a person or a couple was not willing to "remain in the teaching of the Christ" they were not to be received in to the house; that is, the House of God. Submitting both their minds and will to the Gospel was an absolute. A failure to do so would merit exclusion. As such, the Church's mission to prepare souls for eternity was more firmly established.

To repeat, this principle was universally observed in the Catholic Church prior to the mid-twentieth century. In the early Church especially, a candidate wishing to become a member of the Mystical Body of Christ or a couple wishing to get their marriage blessed by the Church, had to believe the whole corpus of Christ's teachings. About the year 150 A.D., St. Justin Martyr wrote The Apology. In it he makes reference to the high standard required of one who wished to receive the Eucharist. He said, "We call this food the Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true…and is thereby living as Christ enjoined."


Early Christians and Councils:

To live as Christ enjoined was proven by repentance and a virtuous life. The holy jealousy of the Bishops regarding the integrity of the Church, and the salvation of souls committed to their care, was given more clarity and detail at the Council of Nicea. Canon twelve reads as follows: "Those who by fear and tears and patience and good works prove that their conversion is real and not simulated, when they have completed the prescribed time among the hearers, may fittingly participate in the prayers after which it is at the discretion of the bishop to treat them with an even greater kindness."

Finally, we come to a writing from the same period which specifically addresses fornication, marriage and being admitted to the Sacraments. The Council of Elvira, a meeting of bishops in Spain, decreed that, "If it is determined that youths who have fornicated after having been baptized may, when they have done legitimate penance and when they have been married, be admitted to communion." (around 300 A.D.) Here, repentance from fornication and then entering into the lawful union of marriage (if the couple chose to get married) was the condition from which these "youths" could be admitted to communion.


Logic of High Standards:

The best way the Fathers of the Church knew how to ensure the salvation of souls on the one hand, and the holiness of the Church on the other, was to make total fidelity to Christ the premier condition upon which he or she could enter the Church or remain in communion with her. By doing this, the Mystical Body of Christ was not only a showcase for individual virtues but it was also an assembly of married couples who were a living testimony of Christ's love for His Church. This is what made marriage so attractive in centuries past. Undoubtedly, it is what gives meaning and splendor to the sacrifices required for a happy, life-long marriage.

Those pastoral practices which served to make marriage esteemed by society as the holiest of unions in the past will once again reveal marriage as being superior to cohabitation and same-sex unions in our day.

Sound familiar? The parallel between ancient Rome and America's

Henri Daniel-Rops, The Church of the Apostles and Martyrs 1948

Chapter: Rome and the Revolution of the Cross

The Cult of the State:

Thus at the very moment when the Empire was entering upon its Golden Age, the imperial religion was established- the cult of Rome and Augustus...had not the Egyptian Pharaohs accustomed their people to worshipping them as the incarnation of Amen-Rah for thousands of years past?

Even while Julius Caesar was alive he had been awarded quasi-divine honors under the name of Jupiter Julius, and his name is remembered in our modern month of July; on his death he was elevated to the rank of the heavenly gods. The same process occurred in Augustus’ case…


The Unintended Consequences of State Benefits:

As a result conquering other nations and bringing back booty "a large body of people of people sprang up in the great cities, particularly in Rome, who were largely unemployed all the time. They consisted of uprooted peasants, free workmen who could no longer find work, and foreigners from every corner of the Empire. This was an excellent breeding ground for all political cankers, and for all the forces of demoralization. The hard working Roman of olden days became the ‘client,’ the parasite, paid for his doubtful loyalty by the sportula [i.e. gift of food or money]. But a people cannot make a habit of beggary and idleness without tainting its soul. Cowardliness and cruelty speedily went hand in hand with the vice which, as the popular saying so rightly remarks, engenders all their soil; and, as a diversion, this idle crowd was to find in the circus a theatre for pleasure in which all vestige of human sensibility was finally degraded and destroyed."



The Family: A Vital Spot

But there was something even worse than this landside of society towards moral inertia; or, to put it more accurately, a second phenomenon existed alongside it, deriving from the same causes, and especially from the excessive enrichment of all sections of the population. Roman society was attacked in its most vital spot, at the source which sustains all societies; the structure of the family was shaken to its roots, and the birth-rate began to fall. The mother of the Gracchi had borne twelve children; and the beginning of the second century A.D. parents who had as many as three were to be praised as quite exceptional. Men shirked marriage and its obligations: had not the orbitas, the bachelor, all the advantages the principal being to assure the rich man of a permanently faithful following of expectant heirs? And, after all, he was depriving himself of nothing, since slavery provided him with bed companions who were more docile than any legal wife, and who, moreover, could be exchanged whenever he wanted. Abortion and the ‘exposing’ of the new-born babies(in other words in wanton abandonment0 acquiring terrifying proportions: in Trajan’s reign one inscription gives the precise information that, of 181 new-born infants, 179 were legitimate, and that the latter figure included only 35 girls. This proves how lightly people disposed of their daughters and their bastards. As for divorce, it became so common place that no one attempted to provide reasonable justification for it any more: the simple desire for change sufficed.


Insufficiency of Political Remedies:

Was there any attempt to halt this moral disintegration? States have always shown themselves completely incapable of restoring their moral foundations once they have allowed them to weaken. The Roman rulers were far from being unaware of the peril, but their good intentions were absurdly useless, in view of the strength of the forces which were driving their society on to ruin. Augustus’s example is cogent evidence of this. He promulgated countless laws with the loftiest of moral intentions, in an effort to fight the twin scourges of adultery and divorce…And in addition, was it not Augustus himself who, by creating the Annonan Prefecture, which was entrusted with the task of providing the people with free food, gave idleness official sanction?

At the beginning of the third century, when Dion Cassius took over the consulship, he was to find three thousand cases of adultery entered on the list of pleas, relating to Rome alone. When a crime becomes universal can it really go on being regarded as a crime?"


State Edict and Conscience:

The substitution of the State edict for the individual conscience is always a sure sign of decadence, in every country and in every age. A nation is indeed sick at heart if in order to live decently and to produce children it needs a series of subsidies and rules to enable it to do so…It was no longer for the emperor and his jurists to attempt to restore the healthy foundations of Roman society. Nothing less than a radical change in the very bases of morality itself, and in its effects upon the individual’s mind, would now suffice.

Before Guadalupe: False Gods & the Culture of Death

Sacrificing Innocence:

I once read that “false gods demand innocent blood.” The truth of that statement is undeniable. The innocent suffer under false religions and godless ideologies. Whether it be the cult of human sacrifices in ancients or the cult of the State which oppressed and liquidated its citizens in modern times, there is a false god demanding innocent blood. But when Jesus Christ dethrones these false gods by being accepted into the hearts of the people, His Holy Sacrifice to the Father, perpetuated throughout time and manifested on every Catholic altar, quenches and appeases this animal-like blood thirst. This craving for the shedding of innocent blood is not just the trait of barbaric and uncivilized people. No. It is to be found in the most civilized parts of the world wherever the true God was not worshiped. No doubt, it is a perverse but ever so common desire which is the result of sin and fallen human nature. But the truth is that human guilt longs for its own expiation through the shedding of innocent blood.

Perhaps this is why Catholics receive the Innocent Blood of Christ from the consecrated hands of priests. From the altar comes atonement for sin and healing for the soul. For those who receive the Eucharist with faith, human dignity shines all the brighter in their hearts of minds. When a people benefit from the blessings of this Holy Sacrament, the innocence of every life becomes more self-evident, sacred and inviolable. And because the blood of the Lamb expiates our human guilt, no other “innocent blood” is needed. But unbelievers and pagans have to find it elsewhere. They look for it in abortion clinics, in the destruction of human embryos, in Hollywood’s glorification of violence and death, in inner-city crime, in the practice of euthanasia in hospitals, in Islamic jihad and the list goes on. Outside of God, the search for atonement always comes at the expense of the innocent.

As we shall see, religious doctrine and ritual do have social and political consequences. Even for those who claim to reject all forms of religion, something or someone is held up as supreme. And that which is supreme, whether it be the State or self, demands obedience. In either case, the master to be obeyed quite often turns out to be cruel and authoritarian. So you see, the choice is never between the belief in God or not believing in God at all. Rather, people must choose between the true God who is the Father of all and the false gods, whatever these gods may be. One thing for sure: The worship of these false gods will inevitably involve human cruelty.

Mexico is a fine illustration of how a false religion- both in its ritual and political form -exploits people. Its history also shows that through God’s intervention a people can be saved from the misery of false religions and oppressive rulers. And it further reminds us how sanctity, civility and progress can be squandered. Indeed, once demons have been driven out of a nation and the Holy Spirit ushered in, more demons than before will return if moral and spiritual defenses are relaxed. As our Lord said, "When an unclean spirit goes out of a person it roams through arid regions searching for rest but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my home from which I came.' But upon returning, it finds it empty, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings back with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they move in and dwell there; and the last condition of that person is worse than the first. Thus it will be with this evil generation." (Matthew 12:43-45)


A World Without Christ:

Our Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance to St. Juan Diego in December of 1531 transpired ten years after the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes and the Spanish Conquistadors conquered the Aztecs in 1521. In any case, the Aztec civilization was probably the most advanced in the Western hemisphere during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Yet, it was plagued by the Culture of Death.

Upon arriving in the New World (i.e. Caribbean Islands, Cuba and Mexico), what the Spanish explorers found absolutely shocked their Christian sensibilities. Pyramids and temples were set up everywhere for human sacrifices. For instance, Huitzilopochtle, the Aztec god of war, demanded human sacrifices according to the natives. On Tepeyac Hill, where our Lady eventually appeared to St. Juan Diego, there was once a great devotion to the goddess Tonantzin. Her cult too demanded innocent blood.

According to one source, Cortez learned that smaller Indian nations were ruled by the Aztec emperor Montezuma II. Captives from the wars waged against these smaller nations were offered for human sacrifice. According to Dianna Cary, author of Cortes and the Valiant Little Ladies, in one community of conquered Indians there was a blood tribute of 25,000 human sacrifices a year. They would even fatten these captives for a more worthy sacrifice. The author went to say that in each town there were temples or pyramids made of stone topped with small wooden apartments housing hideous idols of the Indians’ blood thirsty gods. However, “when Cortes [devoted to the Blessed Virgin] discovered the purpose of these caged captives, he ordered their release; he then had temples cleansed, the images cast down and a crucifix and a Madonna placed on an altar atop each pyramid.”


Bernal Diaz: An Eye Witness

One of the more trustworthy eye witness sources of what the Spaniards discovered was Spanish historian Bernal Diaz. He accompanied Cortes and chronicled the events as the Spanish expedition traveled from territory to territory. Upon meeting Montezuma II, the emperor of the Aztec Empire, a team of Spaniards were taken on a tour of sorts to the inner chamber of palaces and temples. Some of the places, like the other conquered nations, had hideous idols with human blood splashed on the walls in order to appease the gods and idols. Two such idols were Huichilobos and Tezcatepuca. Bernal Diaz reports the following gruesome details:

“They had offered to this idol five hearts from that day’s sacrifices. In the highest part of the Cue…both walls and altar, and the stench was such that we could hardly wait the moment to get out of it.” Elsewhere he reported that just how cruel the ritual of human sacrifice was: “When they sacrifice a wretched Indian they saw open the chest with stone knives and hasten to tear out the palpitating heart and blood, and offer it to their Idols in whose name the sacrifice is made. Then they cut off the thighs, arms and head and eat the former at feasts and banquets, and the head they hang up on some beams, and the body of the man sacrificed is not eaten but given to these fierce animals.”

The Spaniards, in good conscience, did not pretend in any way that the Aztec religion was worthy of respect nor did they hesitate to condemn it as evil. In fact, when Cortes and his men convened with Montezuma II, they told the emperor upfront just how evil the false gods and idols were. The Spanish historian describes the meeting:

“Our Captain said to Montezuma through our interpreter, half laughing: ‘Senor Montezuma, l do not understand how such a great Prince and wise man as you are has not come to the conclusion, in your mind, that these idols of yours are not gods, but evil things that are called devils, and so that you may know it and all your priests may see it clearly, do me the favor to approve of my placing a cross here on the top of this lower, and that in one part of these oratories where your Huichilobos and Tezcatepuca stand we may divide off a space where we can set up an image of Our lady (an image which Montezuma had already seen) and you will see by the fear in which these Idols hold it that they are deceiving you.’”

Needless to say, the Aztec emperor took great offense to what was said by the captain. He defended his gods as good and worthy of respect. Montezuma even felt compelled to pray and offer sacrifices on behalf of the “blasphemy” against the gods. Nevertheless, during his visits with the Aztecs, Cortes, on many occasions, explained the Christian Faith to them. Although he had to denounce the evil of human sacrifices, there were commendable aspects of the Aztec religion.

To make a long story short, the Aztec Empire was eventually conquered in two short years (1519-1521) by the Spaniards. They managed to develop allies with the other conquered Indian nations and eventually Montezuma himself was killed by his own Indians in a battle. And probably the most welcomed result of this conquest was that majority of human sacrifices had ceased.


A Prophesy: The One True God

There is something else which lent itself to the pacification of Montezuma II and his Aztec Indians. There is a reason why the Aztec Indians were not decisive in defeating the Spanish Conquistadors when the opportunity presented itself. Although the Spaniards had superior arsenal for battle, they were outnumbered a thousand to one (at the very least). They should have been defeated by these odds.

Dr. Charles Wahlig wrote a piece entitled, The Aztec Empire and Civilization. In it he makes reference to a prophesy by an Indian named Quetzalcoatl. He was the king of the Toltecs in the 800’s (about six hundred years before Columbus sailed for the New World) and he “taught the Toltecs of the existence of a Supreme Being, the Creator of all things, whose help and blessings they were to seek through worship and adoration that did not involve human sacrifice.” However, around 890 A.D. Quetzalcoatl was forced to leave his throne and he promised to return in 1519 to rule Mexico again. Dr. Wahlig adds that “his teaching about the true God was revived by the king of Texcoco, Nezahualcoyotl, in the middle of the fifteenth century…just a hundred years before the arrival of the Spanish explorers and missionaries. It was in 1519, as you recall, that Cortes and the Conquistadors brought the Catholic Faith the America’s.



Kindness from Heaven:

For the next ten years after the Aztec Empire had been subdued by the Spaniards. During this time period the Aztec Indians felt defeated and as such, they were resistant to the Gospel. The Franciscan missionaries enjoyed little success in making converts. However, that all changed when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a native of the region, in December of 1531. Juan Diego had converted to Catholicism in 1525 and had received instructions on the Faith for six years. On Tepeyac Hill where the goddess Tonantzin was worshiped and human sacrifices performed, a new beginning dawned for the Indians. The Blessed Virgin had come to bring the light of the Gospel to America herself. In contradistinction to the goddess Tonantzin, the “ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God” came to bring healing and consolation…not death. As a compassionate Mother who wants the best for her children, she came to give to the Aztec Indians the greatest gift she could give, namely, her Son. Cortes tore down the cult that demanded scores of human sacrifice. Our Lady of Guadalupe, on the other hand, came to build-up a confused and downtrodden people by leading them to the clean oblation of her Son. And she further promised to heal the infirmed uncle of Juan, not to have him sacrificed on some pyramid. With affection, therefore, she spoke to Juan Deigo, not as a subject, but as a son.

“Know and understand well, you the most humble of my son, that I am the ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth. I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, compassion, help, and protection, because I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me; listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows… Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything. Do not be afflicted by the illness of your uncle, who will not die now of it. Be assured that he is now cured.”

On the spot where she appeared, Our Lady of Guadalupe requested that church be built in her honor so that the downtrodden Indians could participate in her Son’s Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, one that is life-giving and supremely pleasing to God.

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* Please scroll down for part two. Thank you.

After Guadalupe: Rise and Fall of a Catholic Culture

Divine Providence: Preparing the Way

From the very beginning, the visit of Our Lady of Guadalupe had the marks of Divine Providence. Before Christopher Columbus asked the Isabel in 1492, Queen of Spain, to sponsor his exploration to the New World, he stopped to pray at the Shrine of Guadalupe in Spain. And as Queen Isabel considered his request, she spent two weeks praying at the same shrine.

Tradition has it that “the shrine housed a statue reputed to have been carved by Luke the Evangelist and given to Saint Leander, archbishop of Seville, by Pope Gregory I. When Seville was taken by the Moors, a group of priests fled northward and buried the statue in the hills near the Guadalupe River in Extremadura. At the beginning of the 14th century, a shepherd claimed that the Virgin Mary had appeared to him and ordered him to ask priests to dig at the site of the apparition. Excavating priests rediscovered the hidden statue and built a small shrine around it which evolved into the great Guadalupe monastery.”

In any event, it was also providential that the three ships Columbus used were named, Santa Maria (St. Mary), Nina (Little girl) and the Pinta (Painted image). Of course, this was prophetic reference to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe some 39 years in advance.


Our Lady of Guadalupe:

It is interesting to note that the Blessed Virgin waited until the Church arrived to do her work. She could have appeared to the Aztecs before 1519, that is, before Cortes and the Conquistadors arrived on the shores of Mexico. But she did not. Quite often she will wait for her sons and daughters so that they too can share in her work.

To summarize, there were three miracles associated with this Marian apparition. The first was that the Blessed Virgin Mary had Juan Diego gather roses from Tepeyac Hill in the middle of December when roses did not grow at that time. Second was her miraculously impressed image on Juan’s tilma. And third, it would seem that this is no less miraculous, and that is the conversion of about nine million Indians between 1531 and 1541. From this unprecedented sanctification of souls, a Catholic culture was born. It may be a surprise to many that Mexican culture between 1531 and 1761 was not inferior to European or American culture during this time period.



Mexico’s Greatness: Culture of Life

Take for instance, the early 1800’s. The lot of Mexican Indians at this time was comparable to their northern neighbor, the Americans. Catholic missionaries had managed to build a culture no less impressive than what had been achieved on the North American continent up to that point. The U.S. Bishops, in their defense of the Church in Mexico which had undergone terrible persecutions by the Communists during the 1920’s, chronicled for the world the praiseworthy achievements of the Church in Mexico. In their 1926 Pastoral Letter, the U.S. Bishops wrote the following:

• To Mexico goes the glory of the first book, the first printing press, the first school, the first college, and the first university in the New World, and to Mexico's Catholic missionaries should go her gratitude for these distinctions

• Indeed, the building of hospitals and orphanages seems to have been the favorite work of many bishops, who paid for them out of the revenues not needed for the support of their households and the Cost of managing their large dioceses. The hospitals in particular were the best that the times knew and superior to those of Europe.

• Bishop Zumarraga went is indicated by one of his letters to the King of Spain written in 1537: "That which occupies my thoughts, to which my will is most inclined and my small forces Strive, is that in this city and in every diocese there shall be a college for Indian boys learning grammar at least, and a great establishment with room for a large number of the daughters of the Indians."

• Foundation of this college was the Indian's original and most effective methods of instruction. Among orators, an Indian bishop, Nicolas del Puerto, holds a place of distinction.

• A bibliography of the books written by Mexicans before the First Revolution fills many large volumes and in it the Indian has no small place. To whom the credit? To the Church which the Mexican government informs the world gave nothing to its country.

• At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Mexico had proportionally more colleges and more students in them, as well as less illiteracy, than even Great Britain, a testimony given her by a writer in a recent number of a London magazine [i.e. around 1926].




Mexico’s Decline: Culture of Death

As to this Mexican culture marked with progress and charity, the Pastoral Letter adds that this “fine picture fades and is replaced by one of sadness when, more than a century ago [i.e. late 1700’s, early 1800’s], Mexico's internal troubles began.”

When Secular-humanism or liberalism begins to take root in a nation’s soil, that is, in its institutions, then sooner or later what comes forth is a soft kind of Socialism or a hard-core Communistic State. In the early 20th century, it was the later for Mexico. The Communists were no less barbaric than their pagan predecessors, the pre-Christian Aztecs. In fact, while the Aztecs believed they were pleasing the gods of war by offering human sacrifices, the Mexican Communists, on the other hand, executed its own citizens for mere political purposes.

“Why, then,” the U.S. Bishops asked, “did Mexico advance to such a high place from the depths of savagery, there stop and begin to retrograde, while the United States went on and climbed to her present eminence?” Guilt must be assigned to anti-religious Mexican revolutionists. The Pastoral Letter continues: “Ask that question of the closed university, the suppressed colleges, the empty schools, the confiscated monasteries and convents, students scattered in other lands, the muzzled press, the Laws of Reform, the sword, the gun, the violated ballot box.” Again, the U.S. Bishops do us the favor of summarizing the events which led to Mexico’s downfall:

• The history of the decline of education in Mexico begins with the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1761…College after college had to be given up, most of them closed by the predecessors of President Calles. Gomez Farias closed the University of Mexico, the first university on this continent, in 1833. Reopened by Catholics, it was closed again by Comonfort in 1857. Again reopened one year later, Juarez closed it in 1861. The Liberal Cabinet of the weak Maximilian put an end to it in 1865. Later it descended to about the grade of a high school and, with some exceptions in certain departments, it has scarcely more than that rank today.

• In two generations, she had lost what three centuries of peace and cultivation had won for her; her churches seized; her wealth, formerly dedicated to education and social welfare, turned over to the looter. The worst elements rose to power and for them power was merely the road to riches. The subversive Jacobin doctrines [from the French Revolution], an evil legacy carried like a taint in the blood from generation to generation, yet prevail; but the buildings of the Church, monuments of education and social betterment, still stand, changed, alas, to other and often ignoble uses. Solidly, often beautifully constructed, many remain as barracks, prisons, hotels, and offices.

• The Constitution of 1857 declared the union of Church and State to be dissolved.

• While Mexico's "patriots" destroyed and ate up her own substance and sold her birthright as, one by one, her schools were closed, her teachers driven out, and her welfare institutions turned over to other uses. Many of these were sold at nominal prices to enrich the families of the revolutionists.

• Those that stand today are monuments to a zeal and devotion that promised great things for the Mexican people, but which is now fast becoming a memory of a light that once astonished by its brilliancy and power; for the early progress of Mexico under the care of its missionaries was the admiration of the world. But figures speak louder than words.

• In fact, such laws [depriving its citizens of civil and religious liberties] hark back to paganism. Were they to prevail they would show civil society to have been marching, not in advance, but in a circle; and again arriving, in this our day, at the point from which it started with the dawn of Christianity.



Lessons for America:

It is good for us to know that what the Church had built-up can be torn down and what has been found by Christ can be lost again. As Hilaire Belloc and T.S. Eliot both admitted, once a civilization has ascended the mountain of God to learn his truth and experience his goodness only to descend from that summit afterwards, the attempt to reverse course is ever so difficult. In fact, climbing the mountain for the first time is much easier than turning around and going back up it a second time.

Mexico could have been a great nation. Its history serves as a lesson for America’s survival. What made Mexico great during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is what made America great: The cause of greatness was none of other than the light of the Gospel. But what is equally important to know is that the winds which fiercely blew against Mexico, bringing it down to almost a third-world country status, are the very winds which blow threw America today.

Ultimately, no man-made solution can calm destructive winds. However, the very substance of what led to Mexico’s and America’s greatness is to be found in what leads to their recovery. The Franciscan’s took great risks in traveling overseas and preaching the Gospel to a new and foreign people. Their toil and preaching were the seeds of new life for Central America. However, planting seeds is never enough. They must receive sufficient sunlight and be watered for the harvest. This is where Our Lady of Guadalupe cames in. She bestowed heaven's blessings upon the Church’s work in the New World. As a result, justice, progress and charity flourished in Mexico for over two centuries.

Just as history can repeat itself with evil, it can likewise repeat itself with the good. But it will not happen without the Mother of God and her Christ-child. With her Son, she is the chosen instrument of God to bring about a desperately needed renewal of the human spirit and civilization itself. She is the template of fidelity, purity and self-sacrifice. She is also living proof that wisdom and moral goodness comes from God. Her aid is not just for citizens but for rulers as well.

As the Three Kings from the Orient came to find the new born Messiah, the light of nations, in the arms of Mary, today's political leaders will find him in those arms. Without rulers of nations acknowledging Christ as King and Mary as Queen, the world will be riddled with the human cruelty of ancient paganism and modern totalitarianism. Guadalupe and the history of Mexico provides a potentially life-saving lesson for America: Mexico could have been as great as America if it had not been menaced by an aggressive form of Secular-liberalism. What is even more important for us to consider is that America could very well look like Mexico if it succumbs to the same foe of political and cultural prosperity.

Witnessing against the 'species of violence'

"Human law is law only by virtue of its accordance with right reason, and thus it is manifest that it flows from the eternal law. And in so far as it deviates from right reason it is called an unjust law; in such case it is no law at all, but rather a species of violence."

-St. Thomas Aquinas


Preface:

Below are excerpts from a Pastoral Letter penned by the U.S. Bishops in 1926. This was in defense of the Catholic Church in Mexico. During this period a fury of persecution was unleashed against the Church, particularly against the clergy, by the Communist government in Mexico. The passages below are not necessarily in the sequence in which it was originally written. Nonetheless, the U.S. Bishops, in solidarity with the Mexican Bishops, powerfully express the strength of the Catholic spirit in these quotes.

The resolute Catholic spirit is not only palpable in this letter but a year later it was manifested through the martyrdom of Blessed Fr. Miguel Pro. With great love and courage it was he who raised his arms in form of a Cross and shouted, "Viva Christo Rey" just moments before he was shot to death. It just so happen that not too many days before his martyrdom he offered his life to God for his beloved country Mexico when he was celebrating Mass. As he was standing behind the altar, offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass along with his own sacrifice, he got the distinct feeling our Lord accepted his offer. The painting of his heroic witness is featured on this post.


Excerpts from the U.S. Bishops Pastoral Letter of 1926:

If the gaining of the whole world does not recompense the individual for the loss of his soul, then what shall it profit a nation?

The power of the State, coming from God, may be bestowed by the people, but when thus bestowed, it does not and cannot include what is not within the competency of the State to accept. Had God ordained the rule of the State over the soul and conscience, He would have given the State the means to direct conscience and control the operations of the soul, since He gives means to the end. The sanctuary of the soul and of conscience the State cannot invade.

A French writer on social science said that "Private initiative begins where the intervention of power ends." In Mexico it is proposed never to permit it to begin since the power of the State is to have no end. Yet the State owes all its progress and success to the individual. All advance in education, for example, such as the science of pedagogy, the planning of methods, the proper division of studies, the balanced curriculum, are the contributions of individuals.

For the sad days of decline, the Church, forbidden by law to teach and robbed of the means to carry on her mission of enlightenment, has only to show her chains, and say to her enemies:

You blame me for poverty, yet you took from me the endowments for my hospitals, my orphanages, my countless works of mercy. You blame me for ignorance, yet you closed my schools, and stole my colleges, the first to light the torch of learning on this continent. You say that I have added nothing to science and art, but you destroyed the art I brought with me and developed, burned my books and scattered the results of my labor for science to the four winds of heaven. You blame me for lawlessness, yet you destroyed my missions among a peaceful and thriving Indian population, and gave to them, in place of Christ's Gospel, the thirty pieces of silver with which you bribed them to murder their fellows. You took the cross out of their hands to replace it with a torch and a gun. Show me one good thing in Mexico I did not give you. Show me one genius for whom I was not responsible. Show me one step toward the light that I did not help you to make. Take out of your country all that I put in it, and see what remains. You may thrust me out, exile my bishops, murder my priests, again steal my schools and desecrate my sanctuaries, but you cannot blot out history, you cannot erase the mark I made on you—not in a century of centuries.

The Church is not fated to die, but she has learned how to suffer. With Him she will be crucified but with Him also she will rise.

From end to end of the earth the answer to the appeal of [Pope] Pius goes upward to the throne of God. The hatred of men may spurn it. The malice of men may curse it. The unbelief of men may mock it. But its hope is in a Promise and its power is in a Faith.

Four Hundred Years of Silence

From about 500 B.C. to 400 B.C. the last of the Old Testament prophets (arguably the prophet Malachi) spoke the words of God to the Jews; this, of course was before St. John the Baptist raised his voice in the desert. He is considered the very last of the Old Testament prophets. Again, for about four hundred years there were no prophets. God was silent, so it seemed.

During this time, after being dominated by one empire after another (i.e. the Assyrian Empire, then the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire and then finally the Roman Empire) the Jews has gained national independence for about a hundred years with the Maccabees as their leaders. But in 63 B.C. the Roman Empire, led by Pompey, conquered the Jews and annexed their land. The Roman Empire, unlike previous empires, was not totally oppressive. They didn't deport the Jews to other lands and destroy whole cities like the Assyrian Empire and the Babylonian Empire did. Rome was more willing to see the conquered nations as partners in governance. Still, many Jews, especially the Zealots (Jewish Jihadists, so to speak) burned with hatred for their Roman occupiers.

When the Blessed Virgin was just a young girl it seemed to the Jews that God was forever silent; that all hope had been lost. Unfortunately, borne from centuries of humiliation and despair was the idea that the Messiah would be a political warrior; one that would liberate Judah from the grips of the Roman Empire. Like so many nations throughout world history, nationalism gripped the hearts and minds of the people of God. They had forgotten that their mission was to serve as God's witness to the nations. Indeed, Israel was not to be an end in itself but an instrument used by God to bring his love and wisdom to the gentile people. We may forget but God never forgets his promise.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary in order to ask, in so many words, if she would be the Mother of Messiah, no one could have imagined what God had in mind. More than a political ruler, the Christ would be God in human flesh! As the prophet Ezekiel said, "For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep." That's right! "I myself!" says the Lord. As he did in the Garden of Eden, the Lord would once again walk the earth with his people. And what a joy it was for the people in Palestine. God Incarnate, unlike human judges and political rulers, will judge with justice and equity. He will give the poor, the lowly and the forgotten a fair hearing. As the prophet Isaiah said regarding him, "Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land's afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked." And as for weary searchers of truth and those who despaired of ever knowing God, this same prophet gives hope that these poor souls would be consoled. He said, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone."

Quite often in the life of a believer, the clouds of dreariness will loom and darkness will linger. It would seem, much like the Jews between 400 B.C. and the coming of Christ, that the Lord had forgotten about his people. But just as the suffering God allows can exceed our expectations, so too does his reward. His generosity is never outdone. Just imagine! The Jewish people had been groomed to expect a politician to liberate them from the Romans when in fact the Messiah, as prophecied in the Old Testament, was God himself. It was too little for our Lord to apply politcal remedies to human problems. He was after the very root of what plagued the human soul, namely, sin. And freedom from sin is freedom from Satans dominion; eventually freedom from Satan's dominion tranlates into freedom from family dysfunction, social ills and political oppression. But it all starts with the spiritual order. Everything else follows from this.

God becoming incarnate in the womb of Mary explains her exuberance when she poured forth her Canticle before St. Elizabeth: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior...He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Having witnessed the plight of Israel, the Blessed Virgin Mary knew that when God is silent nothing seems to go well. For the Jews, it was darkest before the dawn. That is to say, before the coming of Christ the words of the Lord were not spoken through his prophets. It had been quiet for centuries. Consolation and the light of wisdom was wanting. To be sure, God allows darkness in our lives so that after having become acquainted with it, we will not take his mercy, his light and his friendship for granted.

The Unconventional Bishop: And What You May Not Know About Him

The Unconventional Bishop: What you may not know about Fulton


Sheen quotes:

• "The Soviet Union is like the Cross without Christ, while American culture is like Christ without the Cross."

• "Fasting detaches you from this world. Prayer reattaches you to the next world."


His Inspiration: A Chinese Girl

Thirty-two years ago, on December 9th, 1979, Bishop Fulton Sheen had passed on to his heavenly reward. Commonly known was his devotion to the Blessed Eucharist. There was one particular story, however, that inspired Fulton Sheen to commit at least one hour daily (known as a “Holy Hour”) in prayer before the our Eucharistic Lord. He retold it time and time again in order to show that heroism can come from the most unlikely people. Here, Reverend Martin Lucia recounts the details of Sheen’s story:

“He [Bishop Sheen] explained that when the Communists took over China, they imprisoned a priest in his own rectory near the Church. After they locked him up in his own house, the priest was horrified to look out of his window and see the Communists proceed into the Church, where they went into the sanctuary and broke into the tabernacle. In an act of hateful desecration, they took the ciborium and threw it on the floor with all of the Sacred Hosts spilling out. The priest knew exactly the number of Hosts in the ciborium; thirty-two.

When the Communists left, they either did not notice, or didn't pay any attention to a small girl praying in the back of the Church who saw everything that had happened. That night the little girl came back.

Slipping past the guard at the priest's house, she went inside the Church. There she made a holy hour of prayer, an act of love to make up for the act of hatred. After her holy hour she went into the sanctuary, knelt down, bent over and with her tongue received Jesus in Holy Communion, since (at that time) it was not permissible for laymen to touch the Sacred Host with their hands.

The little girl continued to come back each night to make her holy hour and receive Jesus in Holy Communion on her tongue. On the thirty-second night, after she had consumed the last and thirty-second host, she accidentally made a noise and woke the guard who was sleeping. He ran after her, caught her, and beat her to death with the butt of his rifle. This act of heroic martyrdom was witnessed by the priest as he watched grief-stricken from his bedroom window.”

This story of a heroic Chinese girl who loved our Eucharistic Lord inspired a devotion that lasted for decades. From the hundreds, if not, thousands of hours spent praying and meditating before the tabernacle, our Lord managed to conform this man of God into his own image. As a result, Fulton Sheen turned out to be no ordinary Bishop. Yves Congar, Dominican theologian and French Cardinal, said, “There are those who simply live according to the expectations and habits of their social group. They maintain the established ways of the milieu." On the other hand, there are “some people have experienced a kind of revelation, a new birth; they have discovered a new personal set of values and a kind of change have come over their lives.” This latter description applied to Fulton Sheen. Like the Saints, he was twice-born and led by the Spirit into uncharted waters. Sometimes his actions ran contrary to the social conventions of his day.


Breaking with Etiquette:

Take, for instance, the following story I heard sixteen or seventeen years ago. Keep in mind I am drawing strictly from my memory.

The good bishop once said that cowards who never venture- by going out on a limb and taking risks with great trust in God –do not really know Christ. Like the great Saints of old, Sheen ventured and took risks; not recklessly by testing God unnecessarily but by acting on the bold instincts of faith when loss was a distinct possibility.

In any case, Patrick Coffin, a former classmate of mine at Franciscan University of Steubenville (1994-1996) and who is now talk show host for Catholics Answers, once told me that Bishop Fulton Sheen would walk into Communist dinner parties uninvited. Evidently, prominent Communists would attend these dinners. Nevertheless, Sheen would simply walk up to the podium and start quoting from highly respected Communists sources. In order to illustrate the absurdity of Marxism, he would cite contradictory passages from the writings of Marx and Lenin; this he would do with regard to the most important political and economic topics. After making his point he would then excuse himself and leave the premise.

I like that! I respect a man who ventures into enemy territory to speak the truth; not in order to offend, but in order to save. This is an act of love made possible by the spirit of sacrifice. Even his enemies had to admire this. And I might add one thing. How many of us would walk into a Mosque in order to bear witness to Christ? The hazards of doing so is not unlike what Sheen did with the Communist dinner parties. They were every bit as ruthless as the Jihadists are.


Speaking of enemies, due to this public and repeated denunciation of Communism, he merited being a number-one target on the KGB list. He was even a consultant for J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the 1940’s and possibly into the 1950’s. Given the danger, he still refused to have bodyguards. On his nationally televised show, Life is Worth Living, he would speak directly to the Soviet Union’s General Secretary Joseph Stalin, and later to his successor, Nikita Khrushchev, and inform them about the intrinsic evil of Communism. He challenged them, not behind closed doors, but publicly on national television.

Critics might respond by saying, “Well yea, how hard is it to challenge a foreign dictator, especially one he’ll never see in his lifetime?” Bishop Fulton Sheen did not reserve his criticism of powerful men when he knew it was safe to do so. In fact, during one of their disagreements, he told U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to his face that he was not intimidated by his power. Years later, at a National Prayer Breakfast, he reminded President Jimmy Carter, who was in attendance, that he too was a sinner.

His candor not only kicked in with politicians outside the Church, but it was equally applied to his brethren in the priesthood. For him, feelings never stood in the way of a soul that needed to hear saving truth.

For instance, Bishop Sheen had led a retreat for priests one weekend. One of the talks he gave was on the Real Presence of the Eucharist. One priest in attendance evidently was struggling with his faith. Indeed, he had a hard time believing that Jesus Christ was really present- body, blood, soul and divinity –under the appearance of bread and wine. After expressing his doubts, Bishop Sheen explained the doctrine of the Real Presece to the priest in a variety of ways. When that did not help assuage the doubts of the priest, with a keen spiritual instinct, Sheen abruptly asked him in an accusatory manner: “Is she a blond or a brunette?” Becoming indignant, the priest responded by asking what the bishop meant. Bishop Sheen then clarified his question: “Is the woman you are now with a blond or a brunette?” Absolutely incensed, and in so many words, the priest retorted back, “How dare you accuse me of being with a woman!!” Then he stormed off. The next day the doubting priest, who was deeply offended by the accusation the day before, approached Bishop Sheen and said, “She is a blond.” This good bishop understood that the moral blight of sexual sin dims the light of spiritual truth. He was able to connect the dots in a moments notice.


Never Overlooked the Individual

Although Bishop Fulton Sheen attracted crowds and big audiences, and although he knew popes, presidents and celebrities, he never lost sight of the importance of the individual person.

A dear aunt of mine went to hear the bishop speak in Dodge City, Kansas in the early 1970’s. She was sitting with her son right in the middle of a good size audience. After the talk, she had an opportunity to speak with him. And wouldn’t you know it? Bishop Sheen knew exactly where she was sitting. He even pointed in the general direction as to where she sat. Such keen attention to what seems to be minor details made him personable to people.

He was also quite willing to leave the allure of cameras and the media in order to minister to souls in need of Christ. One such time was an anniversary (probably the 75th anniversary) celebration of St. Mary’s Cathedral in the diocese of Peoria, Illinois. He had decided to go. As such, the media and large crowds attended as well. Right outside the cathedral, when talking to the press, Bishop Fulton Sheen noticed a lady. She looked to be spiritually distressed. He then told one of the priest’s leading the celebrations that he needed to bring this lady to him. Puzzled over his request, the priest notified the lady that she was to meet the bishop in one of the side rooms in the cathedral. She complied. Sheen’s instincts were confirmed. The distressed lady was borderline suicidal and on the verge of a divorce. He heard her confession and she regained her strength and hope. The good bishop then went outside to continue to answer questions from the media.

At whatever speaking engagement, Bishop Sheen was always fond talking- not so much with the “important people” who were in attendance –but the ordinary man and the lowly. Whether it be the paraplegic in a wheel chair who needed consolation or a maintenance man who needed a few questions answered, Sheen was willing to make time for them. Like Jesus the Good Shepherd, he never was enamored with the glitter of big crowds so as to forget the individual person. The contagion of fame never affected him that way.

Speaking of the paraplegic, there was a paraplegic woman at one his talks. He took notice of her. After he finished speaking, he approached her and asked if she understood the mystery of her suffering. She answered in the negative. He then promised to write her everyday explaining the Passion of Christ and the mystery of suffering. He did just that. From that correspondence, the paraplegic woman came to understand that God was using her suffering for a great purpose.



A Wisconsin Friend of the Bishop:

On June 9th, 2010 I went to visit a friend from my parish, here in Wisconsin. She had developed a good friendship with Fulton Sheen in the 1970’s. To make a long story short, he agreed to come to the Green Bay area to give a talk in 1971 or 1972. He ended up staying with this family (the member of whom is a friend of mine) at their house. As such, they were privileged with the duty to pick him up from the airport. To their surprise, Bishop Sheen insisted on stopping at the store to pick up candy before arriving at the house; after all, this family had young children. The kids loved him for it. He was also generous enough to give to the family his red skull cap known as a “zucchetto.” I had the privilege of holding it the day I visited the mother of the family.

In any case, one of the teenage daughters of the family took a liking to the bishop. So she decided ride along with her parents when they had to take Sheen back to the airport. Mind you, this was at 4:30 am in morning. Before boarding, however, Bishop Sheen sprung a surprise on them. He had asked if he could have some company on his flight. He wanted to have the teenage daughter fly with him on the condition that he would fly her home from New York City that same day. Of course, he would pay for the flight. The parents naturally agreed and their teenage daughter couldn’t be happier. Eventually the bishop and the young girl arrived at one of the airports in New York City. They had some time to kill some time, so they decided to grab a bite to eat. But first they made a quick visit to the bathroom. When the daughter came out of the ladies room, she saw Bishop Sheen kneeling down on the floor, embracing two children who had just lost their mother through a premature death. Evidently, the social worker who was transporting them to the gate had informed the bishop what had just happen to their poor mother. He really did have compassion for the plight of children.

Bishop Sheen and the young girl then went into a restaurant at the airport. There was a poor man who looked hungry sitting next to them. So as to not embarrass the man in any way, the bishop ordered a very large meal. After receiving it, he then claimed to be “full” and not hungry anymore. He asked the impoverished gentleman next to him if he wanted his food. The hungry man was more than happy to accommodate. Sheen found a way that charity was to be done while preserving the man's dignity.

Sad to say, but it was time to go home to Wisconsin for the young girl. Before she boarded the plane, however, the good bishop put two things in her hands (one each hand), and told her not to open her hands until she got in the plane. She did just that. They said their good-byes and when the young girl sat in her seat only to open up her hands with a hundred dollar bill in each one. It just so happen that this girl was inspired to donate to a charity that helped priests who needed financial assistance. She wrote Bishop Sheen to inform of this and of course, he was quite pleased with her decision.

Not too long after their original visit with Bishop Sheen, the young teenage girl made her way back to New York City to visit him. She stayed in New York City for about a week. Her mother told me that Bishop Sheen was a gracious host. He really was good to her. In fact, the family had corresponded with him throughout the 1970’s. They even anticipated a visit from him in Green Bay around Christmas of 1979. But that day never came because Fulton J. Sheen, Servant of God, passed on to his reward just inside of the chapel in his apartment. And isn’t fitting that he should die where he loved to be most? In front the Blessed Eucharist!

These are just a few things you may not have known about Bishop Fulton Sheen.

Mary: A New Beginning

For a shorter read, I wanted to provide this excerpt from Mary's Immaculate Conception, Eve's Sin and Sanger's Feminism (which was about 4,000 words in length). Mary: A New Beginning, however, is little over 900 words. I hope this post gives the reader a greater appreciation of what the Blessed Virgin Mary meant to the world


Mary: A New Beginning

At the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, there is a long lineage of our Lord’s ancestors. Among all of the fathers and sons listed, the names of five women appear: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba) and Mary. The four women that precede Mary all have been marked by some imperfection. Tamar and Rahab were prostitutes, Ruth was a Gentile and Bathsheba was an adulteress. Out of the five women, only the Blessed Virgin Mary was found to be “full of grace,” that is, without any mark of imperfection. Implied in Matthew’s Gospel genealogy is that with Mary there would be a new beginning; not just for humanity at large but for women in particular.

As God, Jesus Christ would have the opportunity to create his own mother. Taken on her flesh and dwelling within her womb, it is Catholic teaching that he created immaculately as he did Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Scripture, there are allusions to this effect. When God pronounced his sentence upon the Serpent, he included this promise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) The woman refers to Mary and God had put enmity between her and Satan. Enmity, of course, means having nothing to do with; a total separation. Hence, a chasm would exist between the Blessed Virgin and all contagion of evil. Indeed, she would be the first person, the first woman conceived outside of Eve’s shadow. In her Immaculate Conception it was if God had taken the womb of St. Anne, Mary’s mother, outside of Eve’s shadow in order to create Mary, the Mother of God, in the brightest of lights. Perhaps, this is why the angel Gabriel declared her to be “full of grace.” Perhaps, this is why St. John, author of the book of Revelation, saw her as being “clothed with the sun.”

The Son of God would use this special creation of his to not only save souls but to restore dignity and status of women. Immediately after having conceived Jesus, Mary went in haste to assist her relative St. Elizabeth in her last three months of pregnancy. Through her greeting, the first graces of the New Covenant given and inspired by the Holy Spirit “Elizabeth cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’” (Luke 1:42) Isn’t it interesting that St. Elizabeth did not say, “Blessed are you among all people?” This would have been a true statement. But she said “blessed are you among women.” This is as if to say, “Blessed are you among Eve and all of her descendants. Yes, among all women who toiled under Eve’s shadow.”

Isn’t it also interesting that St. Elizabeth added, “…and blessed is the fruit of your womb. She could have said, “…and blessed is baby Jesus” or “…and blessed be the child in your womb.” But no, she referred to the unborn Messiah as the “fruit” of her womb. Kind of an odd thing to say! As far as I know, it is not a common expression of among the ancient Jews. The term “fruit,” however, hearkens back to the fruit Eve gave Adam. With the Incarnation, it is Mary who offers the fruit to the Son of God in that she gave him her flesh. She also offers it to the world. The flesh and blood of Christ would be like grapes crushed in the wine-press of suffering. The fruit of the vine, namely wine, would then be consecrated into the blood of Christ at every altar throughout the world.

Jesus referred to his Mother as "Woman." This was not out of any disrespect in the least. After all, he fulfilled the fourth commandment perfectly. But his mother Mary was to fulfill what Eve lost and that is the dignity and status of being a worthy daughter of God the Father as well as his exclusive possession. The title "Woman" also refers to her dignity as queen- queen of the people of God. "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (Revelation 12:1)

Mary was not only the daughter of God and queen but she was a Mother and Virgin at the same time. In Genesis 3: 15, when God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers,” there are some translations which render “offspring” as seed. This was a common translation up until recently. As you know, women do not have seeds. Men do. The seed of Mary seems to prefigure the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. She would be fruitful without the intervention of a man. A kind of independence from man is communicated here. Whereas before men bestowed dignity and social worth to women in the Old Testament. With the Blessed Virgin, it is God taking that initiative. Just as God made Abraham the father of his people in the Old Testament, Mary would be made the Mother of Chritians in the New Testament.

What seems so theological and dogmatic, at times unrelated to the real world, had social and political implications for women. In his public ministry, Jesus had women disciples. His healing and defense of women, both the infirmed and sinners alike, was but an expression and continuation of Mary’s conception outside of Eve’s shadow. It was becoming more evident that the chains had been broken.

Two Times in History: Effects before the cause

Two Times in History: Effects before the cause
-And when the fruit existed before the tree

According to sound science and history a cause comes first and then an effect follows. The farmer plants the seed, and then the crop grows. An employee works a forty hour week and then receives a pay check. However, there are some things that are just too good to wait! Indeed, there are two historical events which benefited from a divine intervention that had yet occurred. Those two historical events are the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Last Supper’s celebration of the Eucharist.

When Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, she benefited from the Incarnation, the Passion, and the Resurrection of her Son, Jesus Christ. What the Holy Trinity already possessed in eternity, the world had yet to receive; namely, the saving graces the Son of God would merit on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Nevertheless, the conception of Mary could not wait. As God said to the Ancient Serpent in Genesis 3, “I will put enmity between you and the Woman.” She was that Morning Star before the Dawn of the Messiah. From the first instant of her existence she was “full of grace” only to be “clothed with the Sun” when she was Assumed into Heaven (cf. Revelation 12). Never did the dominion of Satan, that is, his reign of darkness, touch her. This is why she was able to exclaim to her cousin Elizabeth: "My spirit rejoices in God my savior." Indeed, she was the first Christian and disciple of her own Son; even before He was conceived in her womb some fourteen to sixteen years later.

Being singularly privileged as such on earth she will be a decisive figure in the war that will be waged (and is being waged) against the Ancient Serpent, also known as the Dragon in the book of Revelation: “Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17) And about this offspring, St. Louis de Monfort says, “These are the great men who are to come; but Mary is the one who, by the order of the Most High, shall fashion them for the purpose of extending His [Jesus] empire over that of the impious, the idolaters and the Muslims. But when and how shall this be? God alone knows.”

One other historical incident that we cannot fail to mention is the Last Supper. Jesus Christ, the High Priest at the First Mass, better known as the Last Supper, according to the Order of Melchizedek, celebrated the Eucharist with His Apostles. When He consecrated the bread into His body and the wine into His blood, what He did in effect was to give them- as He does with us today –His resurrected flesh; but, as most Christians know, the Resurrection was to follow some three days later. Yet, as with the the grace that was given to Mary before that grace was to be won on the Cross, the Eucharist, which contained the resurrected flesh of Christ, was given to the first priests of the New Covenant before the Resurrection. Both the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles received the fruit before the tree had emerged from the soil.

St. John Bosco had a vision that the Catholic Church would triumph over her enemies in the end times. The Blessed Virgin and the Eucharist would serve as those two great pillars through which the ship, that is, the Church, would sail. It was only after sailing through these two saving pillars that the people of God, led by the pope, would survive the stormy seas. More than political and social remedies, Mary the Immaculate Conception and Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic, will prevail over the Culture of Death and its ally, the all-powerful State.

Excerpts: When the Heart Prevails Against Logic

Excerpts from the book, “Spirituality of the Old Testament,” by Paul Marie de la Croix.


When the Heart Prevails Against Logic:

“It would seem that the essential element of great purifications is the night; that is, a spiritual date explicitly willed by God, which souls cease to understand the reason for the trials that afflict them and believe they are separated from him forever. Previously they had been following a path which seemed to lead to a goal, so that every step, however painful, was an advance. But now the road seems to have no outlet.

Previously such souls, even in their worst trials, never doubted God’s mercy or His purifying treatment. But henceforth divine conduct is utterly incomprehensible, even extremely arbitrary and unjust. Everything bewilders them, causing uneasiness, anguish, obscurity. They more they seek God, the more deeply hidden he remains; the more they desire him, the more he rejects them. There is complete opposition and discrepancy between God’s word and external events, between God’s promises and the state of desolation in which souls are left.

Sometimes they encounter a failure which he permits even though he has first assured victory; sometimes, for no apparent reason, they experience a reversal of God’s relationship to them. They seem to be permanently abandoned or even rejected, though divine favor and friendship had been theirs before. They have not been guilty of the slightest infidelity, but they must become fit for the final mystery of faith. To reach this state and to gather its fruits, they must give up all human modes of action. Only in the dark night can they receive the revelation of what they could not and would not attain by their own minds.

God wishes to be possessed for his own sake, independent of all justice, all right, all reason. He brings souls to bay as they face scandal and injustice. He seems to act in a capricious, arbitrary way, following only his own good pleasure. Thus does he invite souls to enter the depths of spiritual love. For in his wisdom, he spurns all systems and he achieves his triumph by ways that to us seem utterly disconcerting. “He writes with crooked lines.” He arouses such generosity and faith that souls must surrender their last self-defenses, and in spite of all struggle, the heart prevails against logic. He obliges them to attain absolute selflessness, to care for nothing but God’s good pleasure, however incomprehensible it may be.”