Were you aware of the Revolution?

There was a very interesting article in First Things last month (I am a little behind in my reading!). It was regarding the theology of those just prior to and after the Second Vatican Council. It was very interesting in so far as it pointed out that those who had the most influence in the council had many innovative ideas, but their ideas were lost on subsequent generations, including ours. Why? The author points out that those theologians were well grounded in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, who summarized theology into a basic framework in his classic work the Summa Theologiae. Unfortunately, when they came up with the theological innovations they did, then those who were not grounded in Theology tended to misunderstand what they were saying.

I think this is analogously, in large part, why so many people are engaged in the notion of "Cafeteria Catholicism." Many people feel they can pick and choose what doctrines of the Church, established by Jesus, they want to follow. The question we must ask ourselves is whether we accept the gift of eternal life offered by Jesus through his Catholic Church or whether we will reject this gift.

Many theologians throughout the ages, upon their study of both the Sacred Scriptures and the Church's teachings (always based on the Bible), have pointed out that the Catholic Faith is alike a net in which we are caught up in and are moving towards heaven. If we begin to undo any tenet or aspect of the Catholic Faith, then it is as if we are loosening the net until we fall through. There are very real dangers to the gift we receive in the Catholic Faith. Let no one think that just because they belong to the Catholic Church that they can not be swiped away. We must actively fight against the temptations of the world to hear man made innovations upon the Catholic Faith.

But to fight them we need ammunition, this only comes from the understanding the teaching of the Church. Unlike our modern world, if we believe in Jesus Christ, and that he sent His Holy Spirit into the world to guide the Catholic Church we should trust the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church. To do so doesn't neglect that there are a great many sinners even now in the Catholic Church, it only means that we trust that God can write crooked with straight lines or, to put it another way, that God is faithful to the promise he made in establishing His Church upon the rock of St. Peter.

The choice is ours. But the world is not waiting for us to respond, its bombardments against us to turn away from our Faith or to reject even parts of our Faith is constant. Let us never set down our armor of our Love for God!