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Because you'd never know there was a war going on.

Kind of.  I'll catch morning news when I first get up, always expecting some new development, such as Putin nuked Poland or something.  One day this week, they did mention the war, that Putin is upping his threats to use nukes and then they segued into news about Kim Kardashian being fined, moving onto a new Disney film and some mention of the hurricane clean-up.  I don't have cable - so network news is all I get, until evening news on PBS, which includes BBC.  So I pretty much depend on online news.  There I can get all the versions of the stories on the war and even the 'schism' in our nation and the Church.

The division is obvious, in the US and in the Church.  The more you read on the right-wingnut sites, the more you risk having your confidence eroded.  I believe that is the intent.  Especially with Trump/MAGA ideologues and their schismatic counterparts in Catholic antipapist circles.  These folks may be more vocal on alternative social media sites, but the contaminating influence spills over into EWTN/World Over programming and other Catholic news sites, most notably The Remnant - which closely resembles the sede site, Novus Ordo Watch.  It amazes me how swiftly these 'clans have united' - at least virtually - especially in their veneration of Vigano.  How many traditional priests and prelates are on board with that, it's impossible to know, since conservative social media and traditionalist Catholic media is generally so unreliable, filled with hearsay and QAnon style conspiracy theories, lies and exaggerations - not forgetting dubious prophecies interpreted to make sense of our decidedly confusing times.

The thing that bothers me most is how paying attention to this stuff erodes one's confidence and creates a climate of distrust while injecting a negative-critical spirit onto even the most innocuous news stories.  Sometimes I wonder if it is calculated to distract our attention from the war and the threats posed by Putin.  Although, on the crockpot side of things, not a few agree with Putin's Patriarch (and many of these support Vigano) that Putin was sent by God.  They even lump in the Fatima secret and additional statements by Sr. Lucia to give credence to their dire assertions of the Great Reset, Great Lie propaganda.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill said Friday that Vladimir Putin's reign over Russia had been mandated by God, congratulating the Kremlin chief on his 70th birthday. "God put you.. - Source

What is real is that a war is going on and could escalate and engulf the world in a disastrous conflagration.  As the Pope and President Biden said recently.

"I deeply deplore the grave situation that has arisen in recent days, with further actions contrary to the principles of international law. It increases the risk of nuclear escalation, giving rise to fears of uncontrollable and catastrophic consequences worldwide," Pope Francis said.

“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden said at a fundraiser in New York City, citing the 1962 standoff with the Soviet Union.

Yet Christian Nationalists in the US are recruiting followers for their Army Of God - and these people believe the same stuff Putin and his Patriarch believe.  

“We’re under warfare,” one speaker told them. Another said she would “take a bullet for my nation,” while a third insisted, “They hate you because they hate Jesus.” Attendees were told now is the time to “put on the whole armor of God.” Then retired three-star Army general Michael Flynn, the tour’s biggest draw, invited people to be baptized. Flynn warned the crowd that they were in the midst of a “spiritual war” and a “political war” and urged people to get involved.

Since early last year, the ReAwaken America Tour has carried its message of a country under siege to tens of thousands of people in 15 cities and towns. The tour serves as a traveling roadshow and recruiting tool for an ascendant Christian nationalist movement that’s wrapped itself in God, patriotism and politics and has grown in power and influence inside the Republican Party. - Michael Flynn's Reawaken America

It will be interesting to see how right wing Catholics incorporate with this movement, as they attempt to 'unite the clans'.

 

The Skojec Reset

When you're down and they're counting...

Steve Skojec of OnePeter5 has encountered a bit of opposition, or friendly fire, if you will, in the form of a rebuke/snub from his FSSP pastor.  Ostensibly for not showing up for Mass during the pandemic, despite the dispensation.  As a result, his son's 1st Communion is postponed, and his soon to be born child may have been refused Baptism.  From Catholic Herald:

The last straw for Steve Skojec was an FSSP priest telling him that his son couldn’t make his first communion, and his soon-to-be-born son would not be baptized, because their family hadn’t been to Mass enough during the pandemic.

The founder of the traditionalist site OnePeter5 was outraged and heartbroken — but even more, he writes in a blog post titled Against Crippled Religion, he was profoundly disillusioned. (He wrote a follow-up post two days later titled An Epidemic of Brokenness.) - Steve Greydanus

This story is worthy of note since Skojec has a long history of calling out the pope, bishops, priests and laity, as well as institutions for  their failures and lack of orthodoxy.  Greydanus offers the job description like this, "For seventeen years, he had been a gung-ho apologist for traditionalist Catholicism..."  I've written about Skojec many times here, so this commentary isn't out of place.  I posted some comments on FB which are more suited in the context of this blog, so I've reposted those here.

When your secrets all found out...

I find Steve Skojec's recent lament ironic.  He almost sounds like how Pope Francis has repeatedly cautioned against such things as rigidity. This type of apparent snub by a priest has happened to many people - traditionalist or ordinary Catholics. Saints have been interdicted and excommunicated and disciplined over the centuries - it's kind of Catholic. I'm stunned that Skojec, who used to come off as more Catholic than the Pope, is now close to giving up the faith.  I very much doubt he will do that, however.

Hopefully this is an authentic awakening. Similar purgation happens to all of us, when our lies are all found out and there is no one to guide us. Excuse me for falling back on pop culture, but the lyrics of this song seem apt:

"When the doctor failed to heal you

When no medicine chest can make you well

When no counsel leads to comfort

When there are no more lies they can tell

No more useless information and the compass spins

The compass spins between heaven and hell." - Sting

This is what happens to us - we think we have found the pearl of great price (and we really did), but we get ourselves sidetracked in trying to grasp it for ourselves. As we go along, more and more of what we think we have, needs to be put in perspective, sometimes even annihilated. Our attachments, our idols may then be taken away. I often think of Edith Stein who explained the purpose of this stripping away:

"In aridity and emptiness the soul becomes humble. Former pride disappears when a man no longer finds in himself anything that might cause him to look down on others." - Science of the Cross

 
I hope Steve and company - and of course, myself - can continue to allow ourselves to be taught, "To lose always and let everyone else win..." - John of the Cross. To stop looking down on others, to quit pretending we know more than all who teach us because we do everything right, as it were. I used to think like that - because I lived a chaste, celibate life, prayed a couple hours a day, went to Mass daily, and so on. I attributed to myself what the psalmist says, "I have more understanding than all who teach me, because I do your will." Yet only Christ can say that - not me.

"Sell your will, give it to the poor in spirit, come to Christ in meekness and humility, and follow him to Calvary and the sepulcher." - John of the Cross

I keep repeating the same maxims because they can be easily forgotten, but I love to recall what St. Therese taught her novices:

"Therese believed that God frequently allows us to experience in ourselves the same weaknesses which we deplore in others,,, [Thus] when we see ourselves fallen into those faults we are then more prompt to excuse them in others." - My Sister St. Therese, Sr. Genevieve

Purification, purging, even the collapse of our spiritual 'domicile' so to speak (built on sand) - to the loss of everything - are trials to purify our faith. Sort of like what happened to Job. We also need to remember Job's friends, who offered their bad advice - perhaps like my commentary here.

 
We need to let the dead bury their dead and we need to follow Christ alone. Christians are not approved by the world - indeed, Christians often do not approve of one another - all the snark online verifies that much. But how does that concern us when our job is to follow Christ? St. Seraphim of Sarov assures us, "Keep yourself in peace and thousands around you will be saved."

 
So there you have it - that is what I understand by the words, 'let the dead bury their dead'. It is in reality a going out, of sorts - outside the city gates, bearing the insult Christ bore. For here we have no lasting city; we are seeking one which is to come. Through him let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of lips which acknowledge his name. Our life is hidden with Christ in God and I know I need to fix my eyes on him, who inspires and perfects my faith.

May God grant us the grace, that "former pride disappear, and that we can no longer find in our self anything that might cause us to look down on others." 

 

God have mercy on all of us.