Preach The Gospel With Truth, Not Cutesy Gimmicks And Fads

In the Vortex below, Michael Voris speaks of a loss of Catholic identity and its ramifications on Catholic education.  While he focuses on the problem as it happened in South America during the 1970s (and he states, in a roundabout fashion, that Cardinal Bergoglio started that snowball careening down the hill), it happened in the United States during the mid-1960s, thanks to the so-called "spirit of Vatiican 2".

I was in Catholic parochial school at the time.  I noticed a paradigm shift almost immediately.  Being a child, I couldn't identify the cause or nature.  All I know is that one year we were:

• learning solid Catholic doctrine
• were starting our day with prayers coming from the principal's office over the pa system
• and attending the First Friday Masses.  

The next year:

• Doctrine went out the window as we "learned" that Martin Luther King was a saint (he had not yet died), made felt banners and listened to Andy Williams sing "Born Free"
• Morning prayers ceased
• First Friday Masses were abandoned
• Listened to a parish "groovy priest" strum his guitar (This priest was later suspended by Cardinal O'Boyle for publicly dissenting against Humanae Vitae)

Only by God's grace do I still have my faith.  Many of my former classmates don't.

Two days ago, Church Militant published the news that Cardinal Burke, International Director of the Marian Catechist Apostolate, directed that the Marian Catechists were to have nothing to do with the protestant-inspired "Alpha In A Catholic Context" program.  Furthermore, the Cardinal warns against "magical formulas" e.g., gimmicks and fads that are used in place of what the Church has always done in her 2000 year history of proclaiming Christ: proclaim the simple truth with no embellishment whatsoever.

The Vortex speaks of several of these gimmicks that plague the Church.  There are others.  Have you ever noticed on social media how priests are becoming seduced by such nonsense?  We have:

• Singing priests
• Break-dancing priests
• Cooking priests

How about priests that simply carry on with their priestly ministries without foisting upon us the details of their various hobbies - especially when those hobbies detract from the dignity and decorum incumbent upon them, owing to the indelible mark upon their souls from the Sacrament of Holy Orders?

Now take a look at the "cooking priest" link.  Notice the somewhat subtle pandering to worldly sentiments he (and/or Catholic News Agency) seems to embrace.

• "offers non-Catholics insights into the human side of a priest's life".  The "human side"?  Why specify some hypothetical "human side"?  What other side would there be?  A priest is not some alien from outer space or some swamp monster.  To concede to the usage of such banal language only validates any silly notions of the priesthood.
• "There is this impression in our world that priests are always serious, they only do religion. I wanted to break down that [perception], and say ‘hey, we are still real men. We still have interests and excitement in a lot of other ways’"  
• Again, why the need to prove a priest is "a real man"?  And by what standards?  This statement smacks of trying to justify the existence of the priesthood in the eyes of the world.
• The perception that priests are "always serious" must be taken in light that those with such perceptions are often those who themselves are silly and superficial.  Should the priest, the "alter Christus", descend to that level?   In a previous post, I spoke of St. Joseph Cafasso and his series of talks on the priesthood.  
• "Fr. Schnippel expressed hope that his participation in the show would inspire people to face daunting challenges in their own lives."  How about inspiring them to save their souls by turning to Christ in His Church?  See how the embrace of these gimmicks turns the focus to temporal matters instead of one eternal destiny?

Let us pray that these cheap distractions are jettisoned asap so that priests and religious can be about their most solemn duties.