"Don't make our mistake"

A Cardinal in the Netherlands, Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, was interviewed recently about the change of direction that the Church in the Netherlands is undergoing. For a long time they were considered one of the most liberal and modernist nations anywhere. They have now seen that all of their moral and theological compromises have brought them nothing but loss of faith.

The good Cardinal pointed out that things are turning around; slowly, but steadily. When asked specifically about the non-catholic reforms that occurred in his country and whether that has any hope of succeeding in growing the Church anywhere else, his response was:

If you create confusion, you alienate people from the church. You will not bring anyone back that way. I would like to say to the bishops of other countries: don't make this mistake, don't make our mistake. In parishes where the faith is well proclaimed and the liturgy is celebrated with dignity, the churches are full. It's about putting Christ at the center.

What an incredible message of hope. If we do it the way that God commanded, and the Church always used to do it, then we are blessed by God. When we look at what is happening in the Church here in America it may seem like there is little hope, but Cardinal Eijk makes it clear that eventually people see all the compromise as ungodly and they desire a return to the historic faith. As I have said many times before, you can only lie, play games, and destroy souls for so long before people catch on. Cardinal Eijk also mentions that it is mostly the younger generation who are looking for tradition and a restoration of how the Church used to work. Again we see that oddity that younger Catholics are today more traditional and orthodox than the older generation.

At St. George parish, I am seeing quite a similar situation. We are having people join the parish who are tired of going to an irreverent Mass, listening to lousy homilies, and being taught moral compromise. They find that the Ordinariate is not looking for "new and fun" but "solid and holy", and they decide to stay. Not everyone who visits St. George parish stays; some leave with a frightened look on their face, clearly shocked that we did not entertain them. Some are even offended that instead of getting a pat on the back, they were told they are supposed to stop sinning (so insensitive!).

Many in Catholic parishes do not yet see the "mistakes" of the Dutch Catholic Church, and so they are not yet able to see that they are currently traveling on almost the exact same path. Once they do see it, they will long for something true, something holy, something beautiful. Let us do what we can to help our brothers, with patience and love, to see these things and help them to come to a fuller awareness of the Catholic faith.