{"id":36457,"date":"2019-04-16T15:57:59","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T21:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=36457"},"modified":"2019-04-17T11:36:07","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T17:36:07","slug":"sleeping-while-the-house-burns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/sleeping-while-the-house-burns\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleeping While the House Burns","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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THERE<\/strong> is a scene<\/a> from the 1980’s comedy series\u00a0The Naked Gun\u00a0<\/em>where a car chase ends with a fireworks factory blowing up, people running in every direction, and general mayhem. The main cop played by Leslie Nielsen makes his way through the crowd of gawkers and, with explosions going off behind him, states calmly, “Nothing to see here, please disperse. Nothing to see here, please.”
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With fire engulfing the Cathedral of Notre Dame, many of us saw the collapse of the roof as an apt symbol of the collapse of Christianity in the Western World (see Christianity Burns<\/em><\/a>). But others saw this as a complete overreaction and attempt to fear-monger\u2014such as this poster on Facebook:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I’m sure you speak with sincerity and concern for the Church…but you have used this “accident” to highlight your belief of the downfall of Christianity from within and enemies on the outside. You directly and indirectly \"\"have spread fear…instead of speaking of the true message of Jesus…. There has always been persecution, I dare say there existed more persecution in the early Church than what we face today… Don’t use this Loss of a beautiful and Iconic Cathedral to spread, fear, uncertainty, and delusion. Instead speak of the beauty of the Church, speak of the great works, the moments of grace and the work of Christ found in the hands of the members. What is stupid is thinking Heaven’s signs pertain to the burning of a building… when Heaven’s message and signs are simply those spoken by Jesus, “Love”.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In today’s Gospel, Peter exudes a misguided self-confidence, oblivious to what both he and the Lord are about to face. “I will lay down my life for you,” he boasts. But Jesus simply replies that, before the cock crows, he will have denied Him three times. A simple rooster crowing, a normal act within nature, becomes a\u00a0messenger<\/em>\u00a0of God’s Word. It doesn’t matter whether the fire at Notre Dame was started by accident, intentionally, naturally, or supernaturally\u2014it has become an instant icon of what is happening in the West and elsewhere: the betrayal of Jesus Christ by the most blessed nations in post-Christendom.<\/p>\n

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I PREFER TO SLEEP, THANK YOU<\/p>\n

But the truth is, there are many who do not want to hear this, do not want to see, do not want to face the reality that is everywhere. Like the Apostles of old in the Garden of Gethsemane, it is easier to sleep than face reality.\"\" I could not say it better than Pope Benedict XVI:<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s our very sleepiness to the presence of God that renders us insensitive to evil: we don\u2019t hear God because we don\u2019t want to be disturbed, and so we remain indifferent to evil.<\/strong>..\u00a0the disciples\u2019 sleepiness is not problem of that one moment, rather of the whole of history, \u2018the sleepiness\u2019 is ours, of those of us who do not want to see the full force of evil and do not want to enter into his Passion<\/strong>. \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, General Audience, Vatican City, Apr 20, 2011, Catholic News Agency<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The fact is that Christianity has\u00a0never\u00a0<\/em>been persecuted as much as at this present moment.\u00a0There have been more martyrs in the past century than the previous 20 centuries\u00a0combined.<\/em><\/p>\n

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I will tell you something: today\u2019s martyrs are greater in number than those of the first centuries… there is the same cruelty towards Christians today, and in greater number.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014POPE FRANCIS, December 26th, 2016; Zenit<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Open Doors<\/a> is an organization that tracks Christian persecution around the world. They noted that 2015 was \u201cthe most violent and sustained attack on Christian faith in modern history” [1]<\/sup><\/a>Brietbart.com<\/a><\/span><\/span>