Praised be Jesus Christ! If you’ve not yet read Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, you’re missing one of the best books of the 20th century. Written in 1945, it tells the tale of the timeless truths about the transcendence of love and how humans must err often (or at least, so it seems) before discovering true love. From frivolous friendship to passionate romance, the book convincingly leads the reader to realize that love takes time to master. And there are oh so many obstacles along the way. At one point Charles (the main character) is confronted with the fact that he is “living in sin,” a phrase that as a non-Catholic he does not fully understand. And so his lover Julia, who is Catholic (albeit non-practicing) provides the following explanation: “Living in sin; not just doing wrong.. .doing wrong, knowing it is wrong, stopping doing it, forgetting . .. Living in sin, with sin, by sin, for sin, every hour, every day, year in, year out. Waking up with sin in the morning, seeing the curtains drawn on sin, bathing it, dressing it, clipping diamonds to it, feeding it, showing it round, giving it a good time, putting it to sleep at night with a tablet of Dial if it’s fretful.” From this point the book shifts profoundly and one is reminded that people can change... “To live is to change, to be perfect is to have changed often,” (John Henry Newman). And just as we change from infancy to adulthood in gradual and manifest ways, so too does the Church’s doctrine develop in ways that once might have been thought unlikely. Lest you wonder where this article is going, the goal is to convince you that the Catholic Church’s “new” teaching about the death penalty is one that is in continuity with all that has been taught in times past. Keeping in mind that the enemies of the Church want you to think that her teachings are arbitrary and can change at the drop of a hat, the truth is more along the lines of the fact that even though we change throughout our lives, we’re still the same person as we were when first held by our mamas in the hospital. Catholic doctrine is like that too, in that so much is unseen at first but as the centuries pass we begin to see more clearly and so come to a deeper understanding than we had at the beginning. When Pope Francis recently modified the Catechism of the Catholic Church to effectively ban the death penalty, he was following a trajectory that has been in place for a very long time. Both of his predecessors taught similar things and so Pope Francis’ conclusion is a sound one: namely, that given the circumstances (and the efficacy of incarceration), the death penalty is now inadmissible because we have more humane ways of dealing with people who are a threat to society. This is a valid development of doctrine that reminds the world that we’re still learning more about the mysterious ways of God from Scripture and Tradition. Keep in mind that Pope Francis is not saying that there could never be a set of circumstances that would allow one to use the death penalty as a just punishment (this would make the death penalty intrinsically disordered, thus claiming that it’s a sin every time it’s used). What he is claiming is that the circumstances that would require putting a criminal to death are not in effect at this time, therefore making it inadmissible to use the death penalty. This teaching reminds us quite forcefully that every human being has dignity, even the most abject and unrepentant sinner. Pope Francis’ recent teaching about the death penalty is therefore a development of doctrine, not a reverse course. Such a teaching gives the criminal time to change, to repent and to offer acts of reparation for his terrible sin. And as the quote above makes clear, rooting sin out of our lives takes time, effort, and a lot of grace. So please pray for all who are caught in the grip of sin, that they may find freedom in Jesus and His willingness to forgive and forget all of our sins.
May God bless with peace those who are sorry for their sins and a change of heart for the unrepentant. Your friend in Christ, Father Martin
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
MASS SCHEDULE
Tuesday - Friday: 8:00 AM Saturday: 4:00 PM Sunday: 8:00 AM & 10:00 AM RECONCILIATION
Saturday: 3:15 - 3:45 PM OFFICE HOURS
Monday - Thursday: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM Stay Connected with Our ParishWelcome from Our PastorWelcome to Christ the King Catholic Church! Ever since 1938 this parish has been assisting souls in their quest for deeper union with God. Our mission statement is essentially found in the stained glass window above the main altar: “For Christ our King.” Insofar as God made us and we belong to Him, we have come to... Read More
Archives
February 2021
Categories
All
|