Catholic Church Teaching IS the Answer

I started Philothea on Phire because I saw so many things happening in the Church – both the universal Church and the microcosms of local dioceses and parishes – that were crying for attention. I wanted to say something about them, and I wanted to try to bring them to the attention of others.

Another very important reason for writing the blog was to vent. It helps me maintain my sanity (what’s left of it).

Still, I must admit that sometimes the bad news about the Church gets me down. There’s all the liturgical abuse, there’s the failure of bishops and priests to adequately catechize the faithful, there’s a failure of general leadership. And more. Even if I write to vent about it, it can still lead to discouragement.

One thing that helps me overcome that discouragement is “The Vortex” with Michael Voris. Of course, Michael Voris has his detractors, and he certainly does bring the bad news to our attention – but he does not do so without a solution.

That solution is the one, true faith: the Catholic Church. Michael Voris knows it; he proclaims it; he encourages us to believe it, and to learn about our faith. And listening to someone like Michael Voris, who is totally in love with Our Lord and the Church He established, never fails to invigorate me and encourage me to keep on fighting the good fight.

Below is most of the script from the Vortex episode of Friday, April 13 (with the video at the end). It made me smile and resolve to spread the good news about our Catholic faith. I hope it does the same for you.

First, Michael tells us what we already know – that things are bad:

The crisis in the Church today isn’t a figment of the imagination. It’s isn’t fictitious or imaginary. It is a real crisis with real human casualties – in this life and very likely in the next as well.

…

When the crisis that the Church now finds herself first hit with the force of a tidal wave about 40 or so years ago, it caused major damage – damage still being felt with great force today.

There are lots of reasons for this current disaster: leaders who were ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing looking to destroy the Church’s teachings, especially in the area of sexual morality, sometimes to compensate for their own moral failings; educators who filled the heads of young students AND seminarians with truckloads of perverse, heretical and dissident teachings; lay people anxious to jettison Church teaching and climb aboard the sexual revolution bandwagon so we could fornicate, cohabitate, divorce, and re-marry at will. There is certainly plenty of blame to go around.

May God have mercy on all of us. Because so many in the Church, leaders and lay, turned their backs on the truth, God left us to our own devices and are we even now paying the price – the very real price in terms of human misery: the sadness and bitterness of divorce and fatherless children; addictions to pornography as well as alcohol and drugs; the resulting deaths, whether accidental or suicidal, that follow in the wake of these addictions; and the misery of the survivors who are left wondering in their pain, with no hope of an answer in this life.

The list of woes and heartache is too long to recount. This is what happens when a people – particularly the people of God, leaders as well as laity – turn their collective back on God.

So many in the Church have accepted the idea that there is nothing special about Catholicism…that it’s just one religion among many. They know that to say or announce anything else will bring down the immediate ire of the world.

But then he turns it around (my emphases):

Well…TOO BAD. There IS something special about this Church. It was founded by Jesus Christ, and is protected and guided in its teachings and purity by the Holy Spirit, and has existed from all eternity in the bosom of the Father. This is why we Catholics do everything In The Name of The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit. Because all that we are originates from the Holy Trinity.

The truths of the Faith are given to us to make our lives as joy-filled as they can be in this fallen world. To ignore them, eventually brings down ruin on people – sometimes immediately, other times later on, but it always ends the same way.

When we started this internet effort a few years ago, we were a little naïve about the extent of the damage in the Church and the misery in people’s lives. Well, we aren’t anymore. The only answer to all this pain and suffering IS the Catholic Church’s teachings. Period.

Pause for a moment: just in case you missed that last thought, I’m going to repeat it:

The only answer to all this pain and suffering IS the Catholic Church’s teachings. Period.

Okay, back to you, Michael. You were saying…

The only answer to all this pain and suffering IS the Catholic Church’s teachings. Period.This is why Our Lord instituted it – to give us what we need to survive this wicked and perverse world and get to Heaven.

The magnificence of the Church needs to be shouted above all the diabolical sadness which so oppresses modern man today. God wants people to be joyful in their struggles while Satan wants people beaten down and despairing.

All last week, the RealCatholicTV was also engaged in a fundraising drive of sorts, letting viewers of the Vortex and the daily news know that there are many, many more hours of programming available to help us learn more about our faith. A standard tag to the Vortex episodes all week ran along these lines:

Many, many people know the Vortex, or our daily news or even our usually provocative CIA programs. But even many of our most loyal viewers are not really aware of the hundreds of hours of apologetic and catechetical programming we have which helps explain the glories of the faith and their deep consoling truths.

To access those programs, a “premium membership” is required, and the cost is a mere $10 per month. I signed up for a premium membership months ago, and to be honest, even though I knew there was plenty of other programming, my purpose was to support the Vortex (which is provided for free, of course).  The Vortex keeps me going. And I want to keep it going. Thanks, RealCatholicTV and St. Michael’s Media.

I encourage you to do the same. If you haven’t already done so, go here to sign up for a premium membership ($10/month) or to donate any amount.

Because the Catholic Church's teaching IS the only answer.