Rod Dreher in The American Conservative wrote about how the demon inhabiting the Catholic episcopate has now been revealed and will continue to be revealed. He likens this to the second stage of an exorcism. The first stage was when the demon denied being present. Well, with the McCarrick scandal, the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report, the Vigano letter, and various sordid revelations including that now six states are conducting investigations, the light is definitely exposing. Thanks be to God and Our Lady.
I am reminded of the need for fasting and prayer, penance and giving. This is a time for purity and sacrifice. Catholics must pray and work to expose this evil committed by leadership covering for predator priests, promoting sexually immoral bishops, and actively working against church doctrines, undermining the Church they are called to protect.
As I was doing chores this morning, thinking about all that has come to light and thinking about Dreher's article, I had an image of the Theoden scene from Lord of the Rings when Gandalf exorcises the evil of Saruman from him and frees him. Here we have a King, a leader, an authority entrusted with ruling, who has lost his way and is under the sway of the evil one, actively working against all that is good. Gandalf as a type of prophet, saint, power of the Holy Spirit/Angelic hosts attacks that evil in Theoden and frees him. How evil when Theoden at first mocks Gandalf and laughs at him, stating that Gandalf has no power. Gandalf throws off his grey robes and reveals his new white robes and new power. This reminds me of holiness, prayer, fasting, giving and penance. Perhaps the devil has been hiding, working in the shadows. Now that he is exposed as hiding in the hierarchy he sits there and laughs knowing how complacent the laity and priests have been. Will we the Church increase our prayer, fasting and penances to do battle in the heavenlies to have the evil working in the episcopate exposed, broken, and expelled? I hope so. Watch the LOTR scene and read Dreher's article. What do you think about their connection? Perhaps the name of Theoden is a poetic/prophetic message. Theo-den. Den of theology. The Magisterium.
With all the push for being seeker sensitive and becoming more palatable to unchurched people, denominations and yes, Catholic Churches have toned down rhetoric on divine justice and judgment for kinder messages more suitable to our social justice warrior climate.
I honestly find this lacking. I grew up going to church, and honestly, I knew about the mercy and love of God, and I kept sinning. I had no fear of the Lord. I credit an experience of the the Fear of the Lord with converting me to take my faith seriously. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
I recommend every Christian to start listening to, memorizing, meditating on, and singing the great song from the 600's, one of my favs, the Dies Irae. Oh the words are so good. They put every hymn and contemporary worship song to shame. It is dreadfully holy. As a pop culture side note, its melody is used in so many movies today from Star Wars, The Lion King, The Shining, It's a Wonderful Life, heck, the marching band at the high school I taught at last year used the melody in their half-time show.
Pop Culture Dies Irae:
The actual chanted song:
Mozart twist on the song:
The Shining Opening Score:
We need the reverence and terror of the greatness of God in our religion again. The fear of the Lord is beautiful and helps us live holy. It's that masculine, "buck up boy or else!"
Anyhow, how does this fear of the Lord relate to the Eucharist? I've been meaning to write this or Youtube it for a while. And this last Sunday, the Sunday after the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report was released, I was in despair and repentance during mass. I wanted God to break in and shake out the perpetrators, to purify his church. It bothered me thinking about how many priests or bishops could be celebrating mass that morning after abusing or raping someone and then taking the Eucharist without repentance. It bothered me for the Lord's body to be desecrated and sacrilegiously consumed by those in some of the worst mortal sin, and priests none the less.
Then I remembered the fear of the Lord and the warning of judgment spoken about concerning the Eucharist. One of the proofs that the Eucharist is the Real Presence is St. Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 11 concerning the Lord's Supper. He states that those who receive the Lord's supper in an unworthy manner face judgement, some having died or gotten sick. We definitely don't preach that in homilies. What will the visitors think? Not many priests would believe that warning anyways, its too supernatural and stuff.
1 Cor. 11:27-30
"27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep." Fallen asleep means died. No one in mortal sin is suppose to take the Eucharist. That rule is there for your own good, not to just be nitpicky.
As I sat in mass praying for the scandalized church, thinking about the bishops who shuffled predator priests around, and thinking about predator priests behind altars celebrating mass, hiding their criminal natures while they wear clerical robes, I wanted justice. I prayed for God to purify his church. Of course, it is the Lord who judges and purifies. I would be too fickle, weak, and temperamental in any judgement or assessment, but God, he knows the heart. He can convict. He can judge. He can purify.
I prayed that all the bishops and priests who were receiving the Eucharist in mortal sin, hiding abuses in their diocese, would face conviction of the Holy Spirit, a wake up call, a turning from sin and call to transforming holiness.
Many don't like to think about the judgement of God, but to me it is just as important as the love of God. If God loves unconditionally, he must unconditionally hate the things that destroy the object of his love. True love necessitates a hatred of the things that hurt the beloved. How holy must the Eucharist be, Jesus himself, if people can die from partaking in an unworthy manner? Only a few times in Scripture have people died from mistreating the holy. When someone approached the Holy of Holies inappropriately (Numbers 16), when Uzzah touched the ark of the covenant trying to stabilize it and dropped dead (2 Sam 6:1-7), when the Philistines captured the ark and a plague of tumors broke out in their city (1 Sam 5), when Ananias and Saphira lied to the Holy Spirit and Peter about the money from their home sale and dropped dead (Acts 5:1-11). This is the kind of power the Eucharist also has. We must repent before partaking of it. God is merciful and patient. Yet I pray for repentance of sin in myself and the Church before taking the Eucharist, or at least, if evil people take the Eucharist, may they face the kindness of God to shake them up and lead them to repentance and salvation at the end of their life. The Eucharist, Jesus, God himself, second person of the Trinity, purify and cleanse your Church. Amen. So, learn the Dies Irae. Why isn't it in our Hymnals? It was dictated by the Holy Spirit to Pope St. Gregory the Great.
Revere the Eucharist. Remember its foundation is the Passover meal, memorial of the day the Israel escaped the Angel of Death and found salvation.
