Behold, A Rallying Cry For Fools

"Do you hear the bell toll? Kneel down: the bell tolls for a dying world -- the world of liberal secular humanism." The Pertinacious Papist issues the rallying cry here. He quotes Peter Kreeft, who wrote the following in his book, Fundamentals of the Faith:

"Secularism is dying. The modern world is dying. The new Roman Empire is dying. The new world order of secular, scientific humanism is dying.... The Church is no longer the embattled establishment trying desperately to hold on. The Church today is the revolutionaries, the guerillas, enlisting freedom fighters for her wild and wonderful cause. We orthodox Christians are the young today; the Modernists are the old. We are not trying to save a tired, old Church; we are trying to save a tired, old world and make it young with the youth of Christ's Church." (p. 23)

In prefacing Mr. Kreeft's keen observation, Dr. Blosser treats us to an insight of his own:

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Church. Have you ever wondered why liberals are always so insufferably bitter? The reason is not hard to guess. They are graying. Their ranks are thinning. The ideals they were brainwashed into accepting during their heyday no longer bear any hope of semblance to the present and future reality of the Church. Their hopes and dreams about seizing the helm of the Church and steering her off in new direction has been exposed for what it always was: pure fantasy.

But, of course, they would hold to such mirages in the desert. They were Foolables, after all. In their effort to encourage a legitimate dialogue with the world, they illegitimately became seduced by the siren song of the Reasonable. Suddenly, the World had much to teach the Church, rather than the other way around. Suddenly, dialogue became a way for the Church to fully discern the truth. The Church needed to get modern, rather than find new ways to preach the Gospel to the modern world. Thus, they gave up the truth for the temptation. And why not? Our Enemy has tempted us to take knowledge that our God freely meant to give us since time immemorial. Why would he not tempt us the same way in 1965?

Fools have become the "new revolutionaries". Our laughter has shattered the false serenity of many a gray-haired Foolable. We cheer in the streets as Joseph Ratzinger steps on the Papal Balcony as Benedict XVI. Meanwhile, the Foolable' rend their garments, wailing and gnashing their teeth. We laugh the Francis Kisslings off the public stage while the Call To Action lifers shake their heads in confusion. We fill stadiums and parks for John Paul the Great, while the Reasonable blather on about the Church's relevency. We fill St. Peter's Square for the Mourning and Funeral of JPG. CNN's seasoned anchor wonders about the Future of the Catholic Church, even as the crowds fill the backdrop behind her.

Chesterton once observed that Christ has this unpredictable habit of refusing to stay dead. His Church enjoys this same Grace as a charism. It hasn't failed yet. Napolean swore he would destroy the Church. Nietzsche declared that "God is dead." Many Reasonable today blush when someone they associate with actually take the Faith seriously. In spite of every death noll sounded for the Church, it's always the ones behind the horn that lie in the ground. The Church rises from every grave that the Reasonable through the centuries have dug for her. She will continue to do so for as long as Christ draws breath. Since he is the Son of God, that would be forever.

A good thing, too. How else would the world have any hope?