By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
Did you ever see someone after plastic surgery and find them completely unrecognizable? We can certainly become more comfortable associating with someone after a complete makeover, but it takes time and a lot of denial. What someone looks like in the end is not the most important thing about them, but all the same they have become changed in a significant way so as to become different. And that’s the point: They are not the same.
People get plastic surgery because they want to be different than they at present find themselves to be.
If looks were not important, why do people get facelifts and plastic surgery of all kinds? And there’s the rub: You can’t have it both ways. Appearances are important after all: People in the U.S. spent $11 billion on plastic surgery in 2012, according to naturalnews.com.
Many people perpetually find that there are aspects of themselves that they do not like and these include the most superficial things like appearances. But the fact remains that appearances can affect our lives for good or ill and we must account for it.
In the Church, however, we have a unique witness as to the importance of who we are over against how we look, what we do, and how much money we make. We stand as Catholics for the primacy of being over doing, of holiness of life over other superficialities such as appearances. This witness makes the Church a welcoming place for all people and is a mark of charity in Christ.
We find ourselves in a time marked very deeply by a fascination with images and the Church has not been left unaffected by this. Rome hosted a light show during Advent with images of the Earth and other symbols of the environmental movement splashed across the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica to launch the Year of Mercy.
Mercy is a spiritual gift which can be reflected in a smile and experienced as a deep and abiding sense of serenity. Peace is a spiritual gift which is undoubtedly affected by our environment and circumstances such as access to food, shelter, and work. But peace remains above all something which is conferred by God in Christ and, ultimately, as the martyrs make clear by their example, must be understood to be completely independent of our earthly circumstances.
The images on our cell phones may briefly transport us mentally to other places, times, and people but after we have consumed them, we must return to our real circumstances and find peace therein. Only God can give us this gift and does so through our faith as we receive Christ the Lord in the Eucharist. Our Advent preparation for the celebration of the Lord’s birth at Christmas is an opportunity for us to go beyond appearances, which can at times oppress, and to pierce through them to the inner reality of our lives in God.
Some perhaps want plastic surgery for the Church. Too many divorced and remarried Catholics? Give them Communion instead of challenging them to live the faith more fully by changing their lives as they have the freedom together with grace to so do. Not enough priests? Start ordaining permanent deacons, regardless of the implications for living Church teaching such as rejecting contraception.
The Church has always suffered the cross because it is the necessary path to the Resurrection. It is a grave mistake to think that implementation of Vatican II should be more like plastic surgery than reform of heart and minds to deeper faith.
The synods seem for some to be such a superficial surgical placebo.
We don’t yet have the apostolic exhortation which will sum up for us those things Pope Francis wants us to take away from the Synod on the Family and progressive agitators are already pushing for the next synod.
As the synods seem to be viewed by many disgruntled Catholics as a wedge to leverage their agenda, so the next big item on the hit list of the indefatigable change agents is the priest shortage. Thus it is being rumored about among “those who know those who know” that priestly celibacy is indeed the next sacred cow to be sacrificed on the altar of expediency. Because, as we all “know,” it is priestly celibacy that is at fault for the priest shortage, so it must go.
The official Church organs are denying that any such synod is in the works, while those thought to be in the inner circle are leaking rumors on social media that such indeed is the case. The crushing priest shortage in South America has served the impetus for a protracted campaign by prelates from that region to push for a quick fix which they seek in the ordination to priesthood of “viri probati,” men of proven virtue, who are ordained permanent deacons. One wonders if the definition viri probati will include obeying Church teaching on responsible parenthood by shunning contraception.
Christ has appeared among us so that we might go beyond appearances. The grace of receiving His love pierces to the heart of the matter.
Thank you for reading. Praised be Jesus Christ now and forever.
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(Thank you for reading. Follow me on Twitter @MCITLFrAphorism and on Facebook at Reverendo Padre-Kevin Michael Cusick.)
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