Familiarity Breeds Contempt

I've been in the habit of reading and reflecting on the Gospels with my friend Eric, one chapter at a time.  Today it was Luke Chapter 4.

This passage in particular got my attention as we reflected on it:



"And all spoke well of Him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, 'Is not this Joseph's son?'  And He said to them, 'Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, "Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard You did at Capernaum, do here also in Your own country."'  And He said, 'Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in His own country.'"

(Luke 4:22-24)



Clearly the people of Nazareth, where the synagogue was where the above passage takes place, were familiar with Jesus as a human being--they knew He was the Child raised by Joseph and born to Mary, and they may have known Him for many years, maybe even since He was a baby.

The trouble is this: precisely because the people of Nazareth were privileged to know about Jesus during His "hidden years" (those not recorded in Scripture, when He acted little differently from anyone else), they would have found it all the easier to assume that they knew what there was to know about Him.  Therefore, they would have found it harder to listen to Him--harder to accept that He had anything to teach them.  Besides, He was a carpenter, who worked with His hands, and who didn't even have a scholarly education.

Because they found it so difficult to accept that this Man whom they had known for years could be privy to such authoritative Wisdom, I trust it was a mercy that Jesus did not perform the great wonders in Nazareth that He had done in other cities like Capernaum, where He was a stranger to them.  (Even in Capernaum they weren't so holy as all that, but Jesus did perform His first public miracle there, an exorcism of a possessed man in a synagogue.)



As we reflected on this passage, I came to realize more far-reaching implications.  The scribes and Pharisees were the most familiar with the Torah, the Divine Law given to Moses, because they had studied it as part of their scholarly education--and whom did Jesus most rebuke?  The scribes and Pharisees.

And who did Jesus allow to come to Him, and say would enter heaven even before the scribes and Pharisees?  Tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners.  In short, outsiders.  Jesus even preached to a Samaritan woman, exorcised the daughter of a Canaanite woman, and healed the servant of a Roman centurion--all non-Jews, people whom the Jews weren't supposed to hang out with!



And today, who has the most familiarity with Jesus?  It would obviously be the pope and the bishops of the Church--but I would argue most especially those of the West.

Christianity began in Jerusalem, then spread throughout the Roman Empire over the next four centuries.  Then, during the AD 600's, Islam took over northern Africa and the Middle East.  Christendom remained primarily in Europe, and even there, Spain and Portugal were Islamic until 1492, and there was a significant Muslim presence in the southeast as well.  And then in 1054, the Eastern churches split off from Rome.  And of course, it was from Western Europe that most of the overseas colonial empires came to exist, in the last few centuries of history (most of which are now independent nations).  Granted, some of these were Protestant because of the Protestant Reformation, but mostly southwestern Europe remained Catholic, even if this became more formal than material over time.

The point is that we in the West are the most likely to have heard of Jesus Christ, of Christianity, of the Catholic Church.  Not to the same degree elsewhere in the world.



This made me think of something that Shane Schaetzel said on his old blog.  Unfortunately, since he restarted his blog, I'm unable to provide a link or even a quote, but I know for a fact that it was on his old blog that I read this.  (The closest thing to something similar that I can find is at this link: https://completechristianity.blog/2018/09/03/where-do-we-go-from-here/ )

Shane Schaetzel is a Traditional Vatican II Catholic.  He recognizes the truth about the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) where too many Catholics, especially in the West, do not.  On his blog he has stated that Vatican II was specifically meant to combat the Modernist heresy that was already beginning to infect the human element of the Church, NOT (as is commonly supposed by supporters and detractors alike) to introduce this heresy into Catholic teaching and practice.

The evidence he provided was to contrast the Catholic Church (and the application of Vatican II therein) in Africa and Asia, with that in the West.  He said that in Africa and Asia, which have largely remained untouched by the Modernist heresy, they have applied Vatican II correctly, as the Council Fathers intended--and the Church is flourishing and growing!  People are converting and taking the faith seriously, which would certainly explain the persecution and even execution of Christians in those lands--they must be loyal to Jesus Christ to refuse to renounce Him under pain of torture and death!

On the other hand, in the West, where Modernism has taken root in the human element of the Church, the opposite is happening: Vatican II is applied in a way more consistent with the Modernist heresy than with the revealed Gospel, and the Church is fizzling out and shrinking.  That is, more people leave the Church than enter, and more of those who don't formally renounce the Church are being more lax about their responsibilities.



The point that I'm trying to make is this: we in the West have had a Christian tradition (and specifically a Catholic Christian tradition) for centuries--only in the last few hundreds of years has it been different, and even then largely as a reaction against the old Christian order.  We've gotten used to it.  And it's here, in the West, that Modernism has infected even the human element of the Church, even at the highest levels: Modernism, which Pope Saint Pius X said in 1907 was the "synthesis of all heresies".  It's here, in the West, that we see the most contempt for the Holy Trinity, for Jesus Christ and His Church: it's here that we see the most brazen blasphemies in the media tolerated, while they will bend over backward to avoid offending non-Christians and even anti-Christians.

But in Africa south of the Sahara desert, and in Asia outside of the Middle East (and maybe India, since Saint Thomas the Apostle preached there), the Church has only existed within the last few centuries, beginning during the Age of Discovery in 1414.  And while that was going on, the Church endured the Protestant Reformation in Europe, and then Europe sought a non-religious "balance of powers".  And it's primarily in these regions that I hear about people being threatened with torture and death unless they will, by word and/or action, renounce Jesus Christ and their Christian faith--suggesting that it's primarily in those regions that anyone has to resort to such extreme measures to part a Christian from His Savior, because the faith is flourishing there.  Certainly I haven't heard of such a thing here in the West--where it's too easy to convert a Catholic or other Christian away without resorting to threats of torture and death.

Which is making me wonder if a new Catholic "Renaissance", if you will, is to be found in those regions of Africa and Asia.  I've given up trying to predict the future with too much accuracy (and I certainly don't want to give up my own country for a loss prematurely, and fail to pray and fast for her!), but those seem to me to be the "outsider" groups most likely to cling to Christ, and to be saved, and to be the center of a rebirth of faithful Christianity.

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And finally, this brings me to a more unpleasant topic.  On September 22, 2018 (last Saturday as of this writing), Pope Francis made a deal with the People's Republic of China.  Supposedly this was done in order to give the Vatican greater control over the appointment and removal of bishops in China.

However, as part of the agreement, it is the authorities of the Chinese government who will actually select the bishops, and His Holiness recommunicated seven excommunicated men who had already been appointed as bishops by Beijing.

Let us not forget that the People's Republic of China, which took over the country in 1949, is a Communist dictatorship that hates and opposes God and all religion.  Indeed, the very next day, September 23, 2018 (this past Sunday), the officially recognized Church pledged their loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.



This is a giant slap in the Holy Face of Jesus Christ.



Literally.  When Jesus revealed the Holy Face devotion to Sister Mary of St. Peter, she reported what He had said (from here: http://www.holyfacedevotion.com/revelations.htm ):



"The Savior made me understand that His justice was greatly irritated against mankind for its sins but particularly for those that directly outrage the Majesty of God--that is, Communism, Atheism, cursing, and the desecration of Sundays and the Holy Days."



Communism, such as that espoused loyally by the People's Republic of China (and especially by purported Catholic Christian clergy), contributes to the blows and spit that desecrate the Holy Face of Jesus, which Saint Veronica wiped away with her veil.  It ought to be condemned sharply, not enabled.

Sadly, I absolutely understand and sympathize with those who have accused this of being a "selling out" of the Church to her enemies in China.  This is making me feel more and more like it would be best for Pope Francis to abdicate the papacy as soon as possible: how can the Vicar of Jesus Christ preach faith and trust in Jesus Christ and the Church when his actions are such?  How can faithful be expected to trust Jesus Christ when His Vicar does this to His flock in such a dangerous country?  I fear both for the Holy Father's soul and for the souls of those who may be led astray by such actions, and I am extremely disappointed.

The only good that might come out of it, again, is that the true Church in China (the "underground" Church) will be put to the ultimate test of faith, hope, and love--which will breed truly great saints of modern times, who can pray and intercede on behalf of the whole world.



Today is the first day of the Novena to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, and I intend to participate in it.  Please pray for me that I remain faithful to it for all nine days (the Feast Day is October 7).



Thank you for being with me.  God bless you.