“But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16)
There is much confusion and utter disorder these days it seems amongst our Church leaders, it appears they are in disagreement with one another when it comes to the matters of theology and how we should live out our Catholic faith in the world. It is imperative now more than ever that we pray for our Church, especially for the men who lead our beloved Church.
We had the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at their general spring assembly discussing that there will either be a document on the worthy reception of Holy Communion, or a vote to consider such a document at the next meeting of the conference. And most recently, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone issued the pastoral letter, Before I Formed You in the Womb I Knew You: A Pastoral Letter on the Human Dignity of the Unborn, Holy Communion and Catholics in Public Life, where he emphasizes:
"those who reject the teaching of the church on the sanctity of human life and those who do not seek to live in accordance with that teaching should not receive the Eucharist."
It was shortly after the release of Archbishop Cordileone's pastoral letter that the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith's prefect, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, issued a statement advising the USCCB to move forward cautiously and to do such only in unity when it comes to the matters of reception of the Eucharist and policy on abortion. And there are continuous attempts being made by some U.S. bishops to delay the Eucharistic teaching document.
The Coronavirus pandemic has given us the time to re-evaluate and assess our priorities. Could it be possible that our Lord is guiding us to truly either make the decision to be with Him or against Him? We cannot choose to serve two masters, our choice can be either to only love the Father or only love the world, not both. (See Matthew 6:24 and 1 John 2:15) We have no room for lukewarmness in our Catholic faith, no gray area. Catholic doctrinal and moral teachings are not a suggestion, they are to be followed consistently and not meant to be taken for granted. We either choose God wholly and entirely or we do not choose Him at all. We cannot have Christ without the Church as He and the Church are one. We cannot separate Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and Sacred Magisterium because they are one.
Lukewarm Catholicism is a scourge upon the Church, where there is a significant lack of sound catechesis, and watered down Catholicism. Often, we find a lack of teaching on morality, which would help Catholics to develop a well-formed conscience, and be able to make sound moral judgments grounded in the truths of the faith. How can we the laity be well-equipped to address political and social issues if we do not have well-formed consciences? The Gospel is meant to stir up the waters, to challenge the sinful status quo; the lies and rebellion that exist in the prevailing culture against God. Mother Angelica once said:
"It’s your obligation to speak the truth, and everyone can either take it or leave it. But truth must be in us. We live in such a poverty of truth today."
The culture is rapidly changing around us, where there is a strong movement to eradicate Christianity from our society. We are being tested and challenged by the world around us, and we are called by God to remain steadfast in our faith, and know who we truly are as children of the light. As sons and daughters of the Father we must choose and defend the truth by responding with great love to help one another to attain salvation and eternal life with our Triune God.
Believing in the Gospel is not an option, we must know and believe that it is true. How can we rebel against the culture and counter the sheer confusion that surrounds us if we do not ourselves stand firm in our Catholic faith? As Catholics we are called to be in a relationship with Christ, and to strive towards perfect union with Him, which means loving Him with our whole heart, whole mind, and whole soul. According to the Catechism if we choose to be lukewarm we are turning away from God's invitation of Divine love and refusing to respond to His charitable promptings. It is by our Catholic faith that we are gifted with the truth given to us by Christ Himself, and when we refuse to accept this immense gift we not only reject the truth, we reject Christ. We cannot choose lukewarm Catholicism and also choose Christ. There is no place in heaven for the lukewarm Christian.
Photo: mrjn Photography, Unsplash / PD-US