Timothy Birdnow

Saturday night I attended the wedding of my niece and a family member at our table began discussing Catholicism, in particular some of the rules and regulations imposed by Catholicism. Now do not get me wrong; he is a lovely man, and really is committed to his beliefs. I just found I disagreed heartily. Sadly, because of the din of the reception I wasn't able to make most of the points I am about to make. That's the good thing about blogs; I can make whatever points I like and nobody can interrupt me and break my train of thought. As most you know I am not the pithy sort who can use just a few words; it takes me time to warm up my train of thought. So here it is.

RULES FOR RULES SAKE

One of his big objections to the Church is that it is too rigid and has too many rules.In some ways I think this is his best point. And I agree; I really don't think someone is going to Hell for missing mass on a Sunday (I sure hope not) or receiving Holy Communion after eating breakfast (it's like swimming; you aren't allowed into communion with Christ for at least an hour after eating) There is nothing really Biblical about either. All the Bible says about going to Church is "keep holy the Sabbath" and Christians don't even do that; we have our day of religious memorial on the first cay of the week, not on the sabbath. I'm sure Jews in the first century thought Christians were lazy louts, taking the first working day off every week. But are we commanded to attend church? Not really; you could spend the time in solitary prayer. There is no COMMAND to show up in church. That was imposed by the Church leadership for three reasons 1.to make people afraid to not show up so they wouldn't simply lapse altogether 2.so they could have some influence over the people who came and 3.to get their donations. So some dude in the Church decided to give this the force of heavenly law and he could do it because of "what you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven and what you hold bound shall be held bound". But it's not actually written law; just part of the Church cannon. Ditto the not eating before receiving Communion thing; that's based on a warning to not take Communion unworthily. The Church figures Christ is pure and should not be sullied by stomach contents. I would remind everyone the first Holy Communion followed the Passover feast; they were ALL stuffed when Jesus first gave His body and blood.
We can argue about this until the cows come home. I tend to agree the Church gets a bit rule happy sometimes. There are and always have been people who fear or just dislike anything not regulated. Our society is overwhelmed by such busy-body intrusion and it mostly comes from those on the Left who fundamentally fear human freedom. But human freedom HAS to be curtailed to a degree; we are all sinners and if left to our own devices would find ways to excuse anything and everything. Happens all the time; how often are people sent to prison for embezzlement? Many times, if not most times, that embezzlement was just a little "loan" the trusted person granted himself to get over a temporary setback. When the embezzler saw how easy it was he took out another loan, then another. Before long he's shaken down two, three hundred grand. This might not have been a bad person, indeed he might have been essentially honest. As the saying goes, locks are for honest people; they won't stop the dishonest. They are purely tools to minimize temptation.

When pressed my friend argued that Christianity is about nothing but love, that is all. Perhaps, but what do we even mean by that?

Nobody thinks that an intervention for an alcoholic is anything but an act of love - except for the alcoholic himself who thinks he's being abused by people he thought were his friends but who are for no reason whatsoever "attacking" him. Alcoholics never believe they have a problem; it's everyone else who are the problem. Sin is like alcoholism; it distorts our perception and we think of ourselves as the victims rather than as the perpetrators. "I'm not in jail because I got drunk and started a fight, I'm in jail because the police just needed more arrests for the month!" Excusing sin is no different and we ALL do it to one degree or another.

Love is a nebulous term, especially in English, and frankly we poor humans are inordinately bad at it. Even when we have the purest of intentions we can muck it all up. The road to hell...

Which is why this "I know good from bad and will follow my heart" approach is doomed to failure. We DON'T know oftentimes, and if we do we conveniently forget or excuse. We needed this stuff written down as law, which is why God gave us the Bible and the Church Magesterium.

I made this point and was met with a snort of derision; my friend said he was a "cafeteria catholic" and picked and chose what he thought was right. What does THAT even mean?

It means each man is a church unto himself, deciding good from bad based on his own emotional needs. In point of fact this is pretty much the same thing Lucifer did. Satan is well acquainted with the Bible and picks and chooses passages that suit his interests. When he tempted Jesus he quoted quite liberally from Scripture. Jesus would rebut with the rest of Scripture; He knew the Devil was only giving him half the story. Well, if you are a cafeteria catholic you are only getting half the story - the half you want.

I would have pointed out to my friend (I didn't because I would have had to shout this) that were I to build my own airplane and offer him a flight to New Orleans he would be wise to turn me down; I know nothing about engineering, or about aviation science, and have never once taken a course in piloting a plane. I rely on those who know these things to do them for me. Does that mean I rely on them BLINDLY? Certainly not. If I ran into the pilot the night before and he was drinking heavily in a bar I wouldn't board the plane. But by and large I wouldn't dare just take some rickety home-made craft up into the air and fly by the seat of my pants. (The Wright brothers were just plain nuts!) And he would be a fool to fly with me.

Or if we were lawyers I would quote the old maxim "A man who represents himself has a fool for a client". Why is it true in legal affairs but not in matters of religion?

We KNOW this is a bad idea. A couple of years ago there was a company taking customers to the very bottom of the sea in special submersibles. The only problem was the engineer who built the sub didn't like the traditional deep sea vessel, which is spherical in shape (to hold out the immense pressure). So they redesigned it to look more like a standard torpedo-shaped submarine. (I suppose that made it much more maneuverable as well as more stylish.) Guess what? They guy made his own rules about stresses and the darned thing imploded, killing everyone on board. This engineer thought he knew better than the textbooks and he gambled lives on that - and lost.

Religion is no different. There are rules and standards, rules that we ignored, which is why we are stuck in this valley of tears anyway. We've ignored and broken the rules through all of human history and it always hurts us.

How many prisoners won't just walk out of the prison if the doors are wide open and no guards present? Even when they know it will add time to their sentences they'll take the chance. It's being human.

My friend went on to deny the existence of Purgatory, a Catholic doctrine. He argued life is purgatory enough. Perhaps, but this is a very narrow and shallow view, in my opinion.

What is the purpose of life on this Earth? A number of things but it's NOT about being happy or enjoying ourselves. Those are goals that aren't sinful or wrong but they are fruitless and unattainable. Everyone suffers here. As Jesus said "the rain falls on the just and unjust alike" meaning we ALL get the shaft. Why?

Because this place is a kind of boot camp, a training ground, a place where we are choosing our eternal destination and our role in the hereafter. It's not SUPPOSED to be fun; it's supposed to be hard and the harder and more unpleasant it is the better off we will be provided we accept it as a kind of corrective punishment and don't simply rebel.

I liken it to a tournament.

When God created us He wanted us to be truly autonomous. I once had a really cool toy robot; I played with it just a couple of days then threw it in the toy box, never to get it out again. It was STUPID; it only did what it was designed to do. If it walked into a wall it kept walking. Nothing independent about it. So what did God do? He made us all unique, with an unique mix of talents and gifts and interests.

But it should be patently obvious that this was a horribly unfair situation. On top of Creation was Lucifer, the top Cherub (which was the highest order of the angelic host). At the bottom was some nameless schlub, who wasn't smart or funny or good looking or personable. He didn't ask to be made that way! Why should Lucifer get all the glory and this poor guy got hind teat? How does a just and loving God square this?

He holds a tournament, steps back into the shadows, and sees who wants it the most. The tournament is handicapped so everyone ultimately competes on a level playing field. Everyone has unique challenges and everyone ultimately meets them with what they have. It's not about what you can accomplish so much as your own personal growth and that is dependent on how you treat others and how much you love God.

The winner was St. Michael, who was an archangel. In the hierarchy of the angelic hosts archangel is second from the bottom; only standard angels are lower. HE was the guy God gave the power to drive Satan out of Heaven.

On Earth it was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Actually it was Jesus but there are those who would argue that since He was all God as well as all Man then perhaps He is an exception. If one is of that school of thought than certainly the mother of Jesus is top human by her obedience to God and enormous personal expense.

At any rate suffering on Earth establishes a new hierarchy and it is one entirely voluntary.

But Catholics believe you cannot enter Heaven with venial sins on your soul. Protestants always say Jesus' sacrifice was perfect and it was,but there are still fines to be paid and accounting to do. Recently a guy who went to prison for the J6 business finally got out of jail - months after he was pardoned by President Trump. Purgatory is like that.

Purgatory isn't Biblical exactly; there are allusions to it but it's not specifically mentioned. (Actually that is where Abraham was in the story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man.) It's a place where you purge your soul. Consider it a locker room where you wash before entering the banquet hall.

I was on a swim team when I was a boy and we practiced early in the morning. I hated being first in; the pool was so peaceful and clear. But as soon as one person jumped in it would be frothy and chaotic for the rest of the day. Heaven is like that pool; it's not God is punishing us so much as He can't let us in without ruining it for everyone, at least not until we have purified. Yes, the blood of Jesus is what we wash in, but we have to actually do our own washing. Many times when Jesus healed people He gave them instructions of things to do.

At any rate Heaven probably is a place where your very thoughts are heard and known; going there in an imperfect state would be agonizing. It's why Adam and Eve invented clothing, to hide from God and the angels.

So in my mind purgatory is absolutely necessary. And Mary said at Medjugorje (not an approved apparition but certainly a rather striking spiritual event) that people WANT to be in purgatory. Some very holy people are there suffering some terrible penance because they want a better place in Heaven. It's not just bad sinners who have it rough there. And some not-very-religious people go almost immediately to Heaven because it's what they want.

God gives us what we want in the end. If we don't want to be with Him he lets us go elsewhere. That elsewhere is terrible indeed but He won't force His company on those who reject Him. Hell is as necessary as purgatory.

And, as the Apostle Paul said, life is "our momentary, light affliction" and so is purgatory in the overall picture. Eternity is one heckuva long time.

Yes, we do suffer,but that will only add to our joy in Heaven. You might love spaghetti but it grows very bland without a little garlic. Nobody likes to just munch on garlic,but mixed in with the pasta and sauce it's delicious. Our suffering is like that.

So to get back on point God gave us the blueprint to follow and while He may not like us to reject it - or Him - He's too much the gentleman to force us to obey. But it's in our interests to obey the rules; and He gave us scripture and the Church to clarify those for us. We won't get there on our own. Yes, there is natural law and often we see it but just as often we ignore it because it suits us. Cafeteria Catholicism is spiritual anarchism.

Every once in a while a cafeteria buffet gets contaminated with salmonella. This despite food inspections and health regulations. Deny the authority of the Bible and Church and you are like such a cafeteria in Gabon on some such place. You will come down with a spiritual parasite sooner or later.

By and large human beings aren't lovers; we're fighters. We just don't know how to love and in the end we'll do what comes naturally to us. It's not loving our neighbor.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 06:25 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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