Saints Wanted for Our Time

Envision the power of Christians confident in their faith and the doctrine of the Church, if they turned their focus on an unsuspecting secularist world.

FLORIDA (Catholic Online) - Throughout history, as errors emerged within the Church, saints came to the fore to expose, fight against and drive out heresy. Today, relativism has become a universal heresy by ignoring the very existence of good and evil and promoting an egocentric form of thinking. Relativism is intensely irrational. It denies objective truth, which in turn denies reason. Lamentably, it is fortified by a cafeteria-style proclivity towards faith and doctrine. Pope Benedict XVI refers to this phenomenon as the "Dictatorship of Relativism".

Relativism's aim is to enforce conformity, which is often accomplished through intimidation and calumny. It demands that individual faith be privatized and the services the Church provides society be secularized. There is sparse trepidation in imposing this heresy on everybody. In his day, Ronald Knox wrote, "It is normal to assume that one who takes the initiative in heresy will be held responsible for his disloyalty to Catholic doctrine." Today this seems not to be the case.

Author of The Rebirth of Orthodoxy, Thomas C. Oden wrote, "[Heresy] presumes that it is improving upon the apostolic testimony. It defiantly chooses a path thought to be better than that of the apostles." Oden added, "The longsuffering laity...know that nothing can be done until the faithful, both lay and professional, first gain a new will and courage to speak the truth in love and then work cooperatively and proactively to recover what has been lost." It will require an instructed and informed laity with deep-seated convictions to renew the temporal order and restore authentic moral standards in line with official Church teaching.

Envision the power of Christians confident in their faith and the doctrine of the Church, if they suddenly turned their focus outward on an unsuspecting secularist world. Following the advice of Samuel Adams, the courageous and the devout might assert, "It does not require a majority to prevail but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." Sadly, the modern era is fraught with concepts devoid of moral lucidity. In its wake, the impetus for corrective action evaporates in the fog of mind-numbing rhetoric. Too often, religious fervor is reduced to a mere political activism. This practice fails to understand that a Christian is a dynamic unity of body, mind and soul working on many levels. Unfortunately, some Christians who have been baptized but barely catechized do not know the faith is being marginalized.

A principled philosophy requires solidarity of thought and action. Many men espouse idealism while seeking the truth. Idealism of thought does not portend exemplary action. Often, there is a chasm between a one's ideals and his practice of them. Yet this is not hypocrisy or the futility of idealism, simply the weakness of the individual. It is the pursuit and exercise of truth that enhances the condition of man, not the mere possession of truth. "Truth, said Cardinal Newman, is sovereign and it is objective, as both reason and will are ordered correctly only when they are subject to it." One's ideals cost nothing. It is acting upon them that exact a price. Most men can enumerate their ideals, but to live them is to celebrate their promise.

The certainty of a specific moral code can be discerned even in the darkest hours. This well-trodden path leads to earthly serenity and eternal happiness. Along the way there are signposts that constantly herald virtue. Many, however, choose the detours of vice as the more scenic route in the pursuit of instant gratification. Therefore, many fail to see the oncoming traffic on the road to eternity. He who asserts his belief in God and keeps to the right-of-way in his quest for eternal life shall triumph. Understanding life's purpose leads reasonable men to responsible action. This understanding imbues humility and compassion. Those who fail to acquire both, fail to understand. It is focusing on and confronting the present that provides inner peace.

Marcus Aurelius offered this challenge, "No longer talk about the kind of man a good man ought to be, but be one." Still many arbitrarily restrict themselves to certain values while avoiding others. They inevitably deny the validity of the values they avoid leaving them in conflict with their intellect. C.S. Lewis proffered a more provocative notion, "There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan." All are called to be saints, therefore, come forth and be recognized and help quell the modern heresies.

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Dan Shea lives and writes from Florida. Long active in his parish and in the Right to Life movement, he has written two books "Beyond Banter & Banalities" and "Breaking Father Down." Dan is a contributing writer for Catholic Online

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