Tuesday, August 28, 2012

“Judas could have left, as many of the disciples did; he would have left if he were honest.”

The Holy Father’s Angelus address from last Sunday, via Fr. Z.

The words of Pope Benedict:
"Instead he remained with Jesus. He did not remain because of faith, or because of love, but with the secret intention of taking vengeance on the Master. Why? Because Judas felt betrayed by Jesus, and decided that he in turn would betray Him. Judas was a Zealot, and wanted a triumphant Messiah, who would lead a revolt against the Romans. [Fr. Z: "He wanted to reduce the Lord and His mission to the worldly."] Jesus had disappointed those expectations. The problem is that Judas did not go away, and his most serious fault was falsehood, which is the mark of the devil. This is why Jesus said to the Twelve: “One of you is a devil” (John 6.70). We pray to the Virgin Mary, help us to believe in Jesus, as St. Peter did, and to always be sincere with Him and with all people."
Why do so many dissenters and revisionists presume to stay, I wonder?

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Wow-- the Holy Father throwing it down! This is why I think it's a mistake to hold back on teaching the full truth because of a fear that people will be driven out of the Church. If Church teaching drives them out, better than then letting them stay to add hypocrisy to unbelief.

Scott W. said...

Why do so many dissenters and revisionists presume to stay, I wonder.

The uncharacteristically frank answer came from Roesmary Reuther (a dissident theologian who constantly banged the djembe for eco-feminism and women's ordination) when asked why she stayed in an oppressive patriarchal institution: "Because that’s where the mimeograph
machines are". So to change the Church, “to do that, I need to continue to identify as a Catholic, although I also function ecumenically and inter-religiously, so it’s not a limitation for me”. In other words, the value of established religion to them is the prestige that can be stolen from it.

Dale Price put it more glibly that it is the Matthew Fox Effect. That once you go Episcopalian, the press drops you from their address books.

Dark Horse said...

"Wow-- the Holy Father throwing it down!" Way cool!