By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
(Editor’s Note: Because of its timeliness, Fr. Cusick’s column appears on the front page this week, instead of its usual place on p. 2B. In that spot we are reprinting an article by Fr. John Flynn, LC, on “Parenthood in an Age of Surrogacy.”)
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“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” The Gospel proclaimed at all of our Traditional Latin Masses on the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost makes clear that ideals are part and parcel of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Welcome news after the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia seemed to spend so much moral capital apologizing for the ideal of marriage as always faithfully taught by the Church.
The Lord Jesus certainly said some things as recorded in the Gospels that sound strange to our ears. Our Lord’s rebuke of Peter, for instance — after His first Vicar confesses correctly that “you are the Christ of God” in Luke chapter 9, in response to when Christ asks who he thinks Jesus is — certainly is one of these.
We are hearing some strange things said also by our Holy Father Pope Francis, such as asserting that there can be grace in a relationship of fornication or that most marriages are null. (“Pope Francis: Most Catholic marriages are null, some ‘cohabitations’ are ‘real marriage’,” LifeSite News, June 17.)
The Vatican spin doctors quickly changed his comment in media accounts to read “a part” of instead of a “majority” of marriages, but the fact remains that the Pope said what he said. Our words reveal our thoughts to the world, so we know what he thinks despite the futile efforts of his damage-control team to emend his message.
A columnist with Fox News called for Pope Francis to resign after his outrageous and scandalous comments saying most marriages are null — this when in fact the Church presumes always in favor of the sacrament — and his glowing review of fornication.
We may not be quite there yet but one is forced to wonder if resignation is an option after Benedict XVI reminded us so recently of this option.
The repeated message of Pope Francis, especially after Amoris Laetitia, is that it is somehow cruel, unfeeling, or unpastoral to preach ideals. Marriage is one of the ideals he maintains that we must back away from in order to be a more compassionate Church that truly accompanies others as God would have us do.
Our God Incarnate Jesus Christ has left us little doubt as to the necessity for ideals in the pastoral care of the human person after we take a look at the Holy Gospel. Matthew chapter 5 makes very clear where the Church has traditionally looked for the authority to preach ideals such as marriage. This authority comes from the words of Jesus Christ Himself.
“Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
The Lord not only preached ideals but taught that to be saved each of us must persevere and grow in grace by not only going beyond the minimum prescribed by the law but to aspire to perfection itself. This gift of truth conferred by the Lord imposes on us an obligation to share Him through His truth with others in love. How much more does this apply to our Holy Fathers the Popes than to anyone else in the Church? The Popes sit in the seat of Moses inherited from the Jewish people.
In another place the Lord speaks to Pope Francis and to all of the Vicars of Christ as well as to all of us: “The scribes and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority….So practice and observe everything they tell you.”
Aspiring to Heaven brings with it the responsibility to teach the truth by refusing both to set aside anything in the law and to impart the fullness of teaching as does the Church in every age:
“Whoever, then, sets aside one of these commandments, though it were the least, and teaches men to do the like, will be of least account in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches others to keep them will be accounted in the kingdom of heaven as the greatest.”
Let us pray that Pope Francis and all of us will aspire to be the greatest of saints in the Kingdom of Heaven by doing in Christ the will of our heavenly Father.
Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
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(Join me on pilgrimage in Italy September 1-9, 2016, to Rome for the canonization of Mother Teresa, Assisi, Florence, and Venice. Visit proximotravel.com on the web and type “Maryland” in Search and then click on “Father Kevin M. C.” to find and sign up for our group. Or email me at mcitl.blogspot.com for further info.
(@MCITLFrAphorism)
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