The 'Modernist' Temptation

When people and especially Catholics plead with the Church to conform itself to the modern age, when they seek to dismantle Pope Benedict XVI's authority over the Church on matters liturgical, pastoral or theological, when they want the Church to reflect the 'social changes' which have coursed through the veins of the Western world, when they ask the Church to mirror man rather than God, then it is a replay of the Temptations that Our Blessed Lord underwent for our sakes in the Wilderness. For Christ to have acceded to any of Satan's temptations in the Wilderness would have meant the loss of the Salvation of mankind, the loss of man's hope for a Saviour and the loss of mankind's restoration to friendship with God the Almighty Father.

Christ, wearied by fasting, tired and hungry could have said 'yes' to any of the Devil's temptations. He could have gained easy popularity with men and women of the time and become a political figure only interested in the temporal alleviation of mankind's suffering. Instead, He chose the difficult road, the road of obedience to the Will of the Almighty Father, the unpopular road and the road that would eventually lead to His Agony, His Carrying of the Cross and His Crucifixion on Calvary.

It is important to remember that when Christ was crucified, even the Apostles themselves had abandoned Him to His enemies. On the Way of the Cross, He was cursed at, spat at, villified, rejected, mocked and tortured by men and women. His only consolations were His Meeting with His Blessed Mother, St Veronica who wiped His Face, St Simon of Cyrene who helped Him to carry His Cross and the devotion and compassion of His Blessed Mother, St John and St Mary Magdalen at the foot of the Cross in His Dying Hour.

In the light of this then, it is unsurprising that Priests loyal to Pope Benedict XVI and the Magisterium are left isolated and misunderstood. It is unsurprising that Pope Benedict XVI himself is often left isolated and misunderstood and that only a minority of Bishops, Priests and Laity take the words of the Holy Father seriously and to heart, while others Bishops, other Priests and other members of the Laity consider the words and appeals of the Holy Father to be worthy only of scorn, derision and ridicule.

For the Church to accede to the calls by those who seek to conform Her into their own image of God, in order to make the Church popular, secular and humanist, likewise, would mean the loss of Salvation for mankind. The more that figures in authority in the Church defy Pope Benedict XVI's wishes to see mankind seek the Face of God in offering Mass in the Extraordinary Form, the more that they muddy the waters on the Magisterium, the Sacraments and the Catholicity of the Church and the more they try to offer society an 'easy' Faith, the more power they give to the Devil in his quest to cover up the truth about Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ and His desire for the Salvation of the whole World. The more people that do this, the harder it becomes for the Voice of God to be heard in parish churches around the globe. The more they do this, the more they aid and abett the Crucifixion of the Church. Christ Himself told the Apostles that the Church would be crucified. How tragic it is that it is happening from within!