{"id":30454,"date":"2017-06-29T16:04:11","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T20:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=30454"},"modified":"2017-06-29T16:33:57","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T20:33:57","slug":"courage-to-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/courage-to-the-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Courage… to the End","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
\n for June 29th, 2017
\n Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
\n Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul<\/p>\n

Liturgical texts here<\/a><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

TWO<\/b> years ago, I wrote The Growing Mob<\/a>.<\/i> I said then that ‘the zeitgeist has shifted; there is a growing boldness and intolerance sweeping through the courts, flooding the media, and spilling out onto the streets. Yes, the time is right to silence <\/em>the Church. These sentiments have existed for some time now, decades even. But what is new is that they have gained the power of the mob,<\/em> and when it reaches this stage, the anger and intolerance begin to move very fast.’<\/p>\n

In the face of the mob, our courage can shrink, resolve disappear, and our voice become timid, small, and inaudible. For at this hour, to defend traditional morals, marriage, life, human dignity, and the Gospel is met almost immediately with the words, \u201cWho are you to judge?\u201d It has become the catch-all phrase to refute nearly any moral assertion that has its roots in the natural law. It\u2019s almost as if to hold fast to any<\/i> absolute today, no matter what it is, is intolerant just by sheer virtue of it being an absolute. Those who propose the Gospel, then, are bigots, intolerant, hateful, homophobes, deniers, unmerciful, and even terrorists (see The Reframers<\/a><\/i>), and are now being threatened with fines, imprisonment and the seizure of their children.<\/p>\n

And this, in 2017, in the \u201cenlightened\u201d Western World.<\/p>\n

If we cave in to the mob, if we Christians fall silent, it will create a vacuum\u2014one that is inevitably filled by totalitarianism<\/i> in one form or another (see The Great Vacuum<\/i>)<\/a>. As Einstein said, \u201cThe world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.\u201d On this solemnity of saints Peter and Paul, it is the moment for you and I to regain our courage.<\/p>\n

This week, the Mass readings have been a reflection on both Abraham\u2019s, and now Peter\u2019s faith. As a cardinal, Pope Benedict said:<\/p>\n

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Abraham, the father of faith, is by his faith the rock that holds back chaos, the onrushing primordial flood of destruction, and thus sustains creation. Simon, the first to confess Jesus as the Christ\u2026 now becomes by virtue of his Abrahamic faith, which is renewed in Christ, the rock that stands against the impure tide of unbelief and its destruction of man.<\/b> \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger), Called to Communion, Understanding the Church Today<\/em>, Adrian Walker, Tr., p. 55-56<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But as Peter himself said, every Christian forms part of the house of God, built upon this rock.<\/p>\n

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\u2026like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 2:5)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As such, we too have a part to play in holding back The Spiritual Tsunami<\/a> <\/i>that threatens to sweep away truth, beauty, and goodness.[1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. The Counter-Revolution<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/span>