Taking The Mantle Of Church Militant

Faithful Catholics are the Church Militant.  That sounds like a rather simplistic, trite statement, doesn't it?  Well, perhaps that term "church militant" may take on more significance for us.  For several years now, we've been watching this papacy unfold into something that threatens the integrity of Holy Mother Church.  So far much of the mischief has been confined to the Vatican, but the spiritual poison is working its way into the souls of the Catholics in the pews.  Many of us have been offering prayers and intercessions for the Church, but we are also called to act.  The phrase in Latin is "ora et labora".  Most of us are down with the "ora" part, but some of us get downright squeamish when it comes to the "labora" part.  We're comfortable praying within the confines of our churches, homes and small gatherings of like-minded Catholics, but balk at the thought of stepping out of our comfort zones into the public arena where we might well face forces hostile to us.  But that is precisely what we must be prepared to do.

Two days ago, Lianne Lawrence of LifeSiteNews reported on Pope Francis' growing alliance with pro-death elements of the United Nations.  The latest sign of this alliance is the Vatican's support of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.  I'm not going to rehash all the horrors behind this alliance as the LSN piece does an admirable job of that.  It links to an analysis done by Voice of the Family.  Therein we see the role that Amoris Laetitia plays in facilitating the SDGs.  The analysis ends by saying that "Catholics must resist in the manner most appropriate for their position with the Church, this alliance".  Most people reading this blog are lay, as am I.  Our "position" is much more far-reaching than the "pray, pay and obey" motto that informally defined the role of the laity in the Church.

Phil Lawler of Catholic Culture said something similar.  In the early days of this papacy, Lawler had done his level best to put the performance of Pope Francis in the most favorable light possible.  However he seems to realize that despite all the lipstick one might put on a pig, the pig is a pig.  While acknowledging that Pope Francis is indeed the pontiff, he then asks, "In a large family, how should a son behave when he realizes that his father’s pathological behavior threatens the welfare of the whole household? He should certainly continue to show respect for his father, but he cannot indefinitely deny the danger. Eventually, a dysfunctional family needs an intervention."

We the Church Militant are being confronted with the same question.  How will we, the laity, answer it?  I for one do not think that our default stance should be to sit on our hands and suffer the insults in silence.  The insults fall not on us alone, but on our children and those for whom we care and who may well be scandalized by all the progressive skulduggery in the Vatican to the point of losing their souls.

Yesterday I posted on Catholic street activism.  That's part of the answer.  However, what are we going to do when:

• we see flaming gays strutting up the Communion line (as happened at my parish five years ago).  The Rainbow Coalition pulls this stunt quite frequently.
• pro-abortion people (politicians and even abortionists) receiving Holy Communion
• we are confronted with liturgical dancers strutting their stuff, as in the video below
• vile heresies spew forth from the homily pulpit
• we see the nave turn into a social hall before or after Mass
• women get their feet washed during Holy Thursday Mass

The above list is by no means exhaustive.  We must start thinking about these matters and contemplate what we are willing to do.  Several years ago, a group of Catholic gentlemen, distraught by pro-aborts brazenly taking Holy Communion, banded together to take action.  Calling themselves "Ushers of the Eucharist", they would walk up to a candidate for Canon 915 treatment in the communion line and entreat him not to receive.  This caused quite a stir.  For some reason, this effort was short-lived.  As I said, it caused quite a stir, but the Ushers didn't cause scandal.  The scandal laid with those who were complicit in the sin of sacrilege.  Perhaps Catholics in the pew might want to revisit such actions and consider them for their own situations.  As you watch the video below, you might opine that this parish (Sts Simon and Jude in Huntington Beach CA) might benefit from some intervention.  Comments welcome.