The Companion of Fools
A reader sent us a Facebook post today from the page of the well known Dr. Janet E. Smith:

Well. This is wretched, but predictable.
Looks like we have to drag out our friends The Simpsons once again:
You can, if you wish, dig through the back issues of The Catholic Moment to see how our current diocesan leadership has been wooed by the culture of programs like Divine Renovation as we have previously covered. You can note the reliance on such programs in learning how to recast a parish with a new identity and “vision,” and how the fascination with ugly novelties has been a frequent visitor to the scene, even in our diocese.
Or you can ask yourself why your parish culture deserves to be overwritten by those who believe in such things. You can question why materialistic ugliness is expected to draw anyone closer to God (rather than alienating them as Professor Smith predicts).
Some might say: “There won’t be video ads in our sanctuaries. We won’t go so far here.”
Hopefully so. But let’s take a step back: Why would we go any length with these ideas in which common sense is conspicuous by its absence, and which deviate from the religious sense of the liturgy and an understanding of what is good for human beings? That they do not spring from a sound basis is precisely why these weird projects are so needlessly destructive and, well, yikes.
Eschew them without regret. You can live your Catholic Faith fully, proudly, deeply, and better without these detours to Cringeville, and I suspect most everyone, including their hawkers, knows that perfectly well.
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)
16 Replies to “The Companion of Fools”
Spiritually dead. That is what is becoming of some parishes in this diocese. Don’t think God is even present in the church anymore. He left.
Oh, I believe Jesus is still in that tabernacle. And thanks be to God for that! What is missing in our churches since the imposition of “Uniting in Heart” (not to mention the trust broken during Covid as well as the imploding Francis pontificate) are the fruits of a faithful life (clergy and laity) lived in freedom. Because of the plan’s impositions and callous disregard for the individual, the faithful are left to endure the plan’s harsh requirements and be distracted by its fruitless tedium; Hardly a formula for success for an organization whose Founder commanded her to: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20).
As the plan endlessly unfolds, retools, and pivots under its own inability to accomplishing anything remotely resembling the Great Commission, it will become painfully clear to the faithful that the whole plan was always about managing the decline and hoarding money in order to keep the bloated institutional church alive long enough to see the current leadership safely into comfortable retirement. These are the actions of hirelings, not shepherds. We are being led by hirelings.
Fortunately for the faithful, we have our Blessed Lord’s promise at the end of Matthew 28:20, which remains my constant consolation: “…and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Come, Lord Jesus.
Just another embarrassment brought to our diocese thanks to our bishop and his Bernardin Common Ground buddies.
Honestly, I think the best any of us can hope for (and what I’m praying for) is that we make it through the next five years relatively unscathed and then pray, pray, pray that our next shepherd is better. This plan is a disaster.
That would be “four” years to go. Bishop’s birthday is this month; Not that all the priests, deacons, seminarians, staff, and laity are counting or anything…
We need to pray for a big change in the hierarchy outside of our little diocese. Chicago, Rome…..these men don’t like the Church we love, which is why we are putting up with this nonsense.
I completely agree with the observation that the priestly “hawkers” of stupid things like screens know perfectly well these contrivances are completely unnecessary to both the mass and the proper transmission of the faith. And therein lies the evil: They push them anyway because at the root of their thinking is an absolute contempt for the faithful. In their clericalism-polluted minds, the laity are too stupid to fully embrace the glories of the faith and need little toys to resuscitate their short-attention spans. This is not evangelization. This is insulting. This is an obstacle to the faith. This is the clerical-class barring the door to the Truth while not going in themselves. Our Blessed Lord has a thing or two to say about people like this:
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” – Matthew 23:13
I remember when the traditional Mass returned weekly to our parish about twenty years ago. It felt as if I were looking through a window into Heaven; it was just beautiful.
After the Mass, I asked an elderly lady why they had ever stopped having this beautiful rite. Her answer was, “Politics,”
They kept moving the night, changing the location, and, eventually, it went away, which was the intention all along. I always went to the Sunday Mass, but those Tuesday nights were extraordinary.
Thank you for another brilliant post!
The Simpson clip was exquisite.
It’s quite repugnant to consider how easily and how far we have sunk into the bilge.
Blessed Sacrament in West Lafayette has had them for a while. It really drives home that mentality that the people participating IS the Mass.
Blessed Sacrament is the test site for all things Uniting in Heart. UIH is the Vicar General’s baby as much as it is the bishop’s.
Kind of makes you wonder if the power went out during mass, would the laity even know what to do anymore since the screens would be dark.
A large church here on the south side of Indy did that several years ago. It is vulgar. Going to Mass is like going to a praise conference. Both have their places but not together. When the Blessed Sacrament is present, there should be kneeling and bowing and awe and reverence.
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2021/09/21/put-them-churches-back-the-way-they-were/?utm_source=The+Catholic+Thing+Daily&utm_campaign=ec3cde293c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_07_01_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_769a14e16a-ec3cde293c-244190741
Nice article. Thankfully several churches in our diocese have returned to their original beauty. And like the parish in the article St Patrick Kokomo is an example of ripping out orange carpet. I believe Fr. Theodore Dudzinki led the St Patrick transformation.
Luckily for St. Patrick’s, this happened before Fr. Dudzinski discovered the protestant magic of sanctuary TV screens. The Church of the Blessed Sacrament was not so lucky.