Tired Sheep
When writing is not just a passion but your profession, you have many pages and articles at your disposal to unfold your thoughts. In every line, in every text, you strive to express what you understand, what you experience, responding to substantial questions or the challenges of the day. And, when such an effort reaches a certain amplitude, you expect that everything you wanted to say has already been expressed in one of the many articles you’ve scattered along the difficult path of the art of words. I thought so too, until I recently read an article by Luisa-Maria Papadopoulos titled “German Catholics Shrug at the Pope’s Heresy.”[i]
I read this short essay breathlessly from the first to the last line, realizing with each word that the author managed to articulate everything that not only I but many other Catholics in these multicolored times would like to say but cannot find the words for:
“Sheep without a shepherd, that’s what we’ve become. Rome has done nothing meaningful to save us from the treacherous shepherds who guide us towards an inevitable abyss. There’s been talking, yes, lots of talking, but what of it? The Rock of Peter has become something that exists in name only for us. I don’t condone sedevacantism, but in our daily lives, we German Catholics certainly act as if there is no pope. We would hardly know the difference. I, for one, have ceased to care.”
From the above quote, one phrase stuck with me, becoming the title of this article: “Sheep without a shepherd.” I’ve thought about my situation, my family’s, and many acquaintances’ thousands of times, concluding that this is what we are: sheep without shepherds. When we look towards the church hierarchy, we find so many examples like those Louisa-Maria mentioned that we can’t arrive at any other attitude than the one she expressed: placidity and resignation. Again, we would conclude that we are sheep without shepherds. Of course, for members of the only true Church, whose Creed includes belief in the establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy by God Himself, this is at least troubling. However, on the other hand, it might remind us of a significant episode from the Gospels.
In my long life, I have never found a better solution than prayer said — if I may say so — with desperation.
God’s Compassion and Our Cry
In chapter 9 of the Gospel of Matthew, we see our Lord Jesus Christ contemplating the crowds that gathered, seeking comfort. The apostle-writer captures both the Savior’s thoughts and the state of the wandering crowd:
“And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
God felt compassion for the shepherdless sheep. The words of Luisa-Maria Papadopoulos are a perfect echo of the Gospel words that refer to an event over two thousand years ago. After so many centuries, we find ourselves witnessing the same situation again. Scandalized, then resigned in the face of those hierarchs and priests who have become (pseudo)apostles of an anti-Gospel, we realize that we are orphans. Our fathers have abandoned us. But didn’t the psalmist David say that even when a mother abandons her children, God does not forget them? Shouldn’t we also feel a breeze of hope, seeing that we are just like the crowds who stirred the compassion of the Savior Christ?
The people of that time were no better than those hungry for the Word and thirsty for Truth today. Sinners of all kinds, they dragged themselves, bearing the burden of their sins, waiting for healing that could only come from God. And we, too, have concluded many times that the current situation can only be the result of our sins. At the same time, though, we refuse to narcotize ourselves with the illusions sold by those trying to convince us that we are wonderful. No, we do not want to remain blind, deaf, and lame. We hope and seek healing. At the same time, without shepherds, we acutely realize that this healing can only come from God. This is the first revelation that the current crisis unveils for us.
But if this is the case, we must do what all the oppressed ones did when the Divine Teacher looked upon them. We must seek, cry out, just as blind Bartimaeus cried out when he learned that God was passing by: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). Why do you think God allowed some people to reach such terrible conditions like Bartimaeus? To show us all, the blind and lame, what the only solution is. Cry out! Yes, cry out like Bartimaeus. In my long life, I have never found a better solution than prayer said — if I may say so — with desperation (of course, this is a metaphorical way of speaking, since desperation is a sin). With the desperation of someone who fears that God will pass by and not heal him. Bartimaeus cries out, and those around him, embarrassed, tell him to be quiet. But he cries out even louder. And we, too, hear all sorts of well-wishers offering solutions that would silence us. But we must not listen to them. On the contrary, we must cry out louder, asking God to help us. Our cry, our prayer, is the sure sign that we know where our help can come from. From God and only from Him. The hierarchs, the priests, the Holy Sacraments, the Holy Liturgy — in a word, everything — are merely means of bringing us closer and uniting us with Him.
Mystical life, that is, the union of the soul with God, has never been reserved only for a few chosen ones. Yes, it’s true, the mystica magna, that of Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, ecstatic and prayerful in spirit, is accessible to very few Christians. But the common mystical life, the one of seeking God despite our misery and lack of extraordinary gifts, is for everyone. For the same peerless king and poet, David, tells us that God looks down from heaven to see if there is anyone on earth who seeks Him, anyone who truly desires to draw near to Him. And who could be more suited for such a search than the one who understands that only God can help him?
What we must remember is that we always have a Shepherd. And this Shepherd is not any person, regardless of their position, but God Himself.
The Only True Teacher
In two short texts, usually grouped under the same title – De Magistro (On the Teacher), Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas show that, in fact, there is only one being who can truly be called Teacher. Of course, this is God. First, it is Jesus Christ Himself (the only one rightfully called “Rabbi”), and then the Holy Spirit, who was sent to us from the Father and the Son for our salvation. He is the one true Teacher. All other earthly teachers, whether Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, priests, or catechists, are nothing more than mediators of the teachings of the Holy Spirit. And when these teachers go astray, as happened during the eras of the Arian, Monophysite, or Monothelite heresies, and also in our time, in which all heresies are gathered under the umbrella of neo-modernism, we are obliged to remember who the true and only teacher of doctrinal orthodoxy is: God. Without wishing to follow in the footsteps of the Protestants, who believe everything can be reduced to just the Bible, I think we are obliged to take seriously the teachings of the most important Latin Fathers and to remember Who the only Teacher is, to Whom we can turn at any time, anywhere, on the condition of sincere repentance for our sins.
In other words, what we must remember is that we always have a Shepherd. And this Shepherd is not any person, regardless of their position, but God Himself. If we were to summarize the essence of the experiences of the great ascetics and desert fathers, as well as of all contemplatives and hermits throughout the ages, it points exactly to this personal search for God. By following the rules of an authentic Christian life, we are all invited, according to our strengths and gifts, to do this.
Any effort to draw the attention of those hierarchs who are still faithful to the sacred Treasure of faith is meritorious.
“This is not a ridiculous event. This is a Revolution!”
I now return to Luisa-Maria Papadopoulos’s article. Understanding the author’s mood perfectly, I just want to add a note inspired by a short video recording from Rome by Michael J. Matt. In his speech—which I urge you to watch in its entirety (if you haven’t already)[ii]—he strongly emphasizes that we are witnessing a major event, which continues on a massive scale the revolution initiated by Pope Paul VI. It is not—as claimed by those tired of the endless ambiguous documents and declarations of the current pontificate—a ridiculous event, but a true culmination of the revolution described by Michael Davies and Romano Amerio. It is, in fact, a complete transformation of what the Church has ever been.
Traditional Catholic ecclesiology insists on the strong attributes of the Church—which is hierarchical, royal (it is no coincidence that the feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925), unique and universal (therefore non-ecumenical), and holy (always denouncing the scandalous sins of political and ecclesiastical leaders). When we see the discussion groups and the democratic style (at least in appearance) of the current Synod, we immediately realize that what is being proposed to us is a different model of the Church. My personal opinion is that we are not only witnessing its democratization (which contradicts its strictly hierarchical nature) but even a proletarization of the ecclesia. Michael J. Matt is right to emphasize:
“This is not a ridiculous event! This is a revolution!”
That is why, instead of a (seemingly) weary resignation, the most appropriate attitude is one of prayer. At the same time, however, I believe that any effort to draw the attention of those hierarchs who are still faithful to the sacred Treasure of faith is meritorious. It would also benefit us all if, by uniting the clans, we could discuss the practical ways to face this unprecedented situation. And it would probably be even more beneficial if the truly orthodox hierarchs would come together to reach a consensus on the current situation. Otherwise, we remain what Luisa-Maria Papadopoulos already said: sheep without shepherds. At least we could strive to be wise sheep, couldn’t we?
Sancta Maria auxilium christianorum, ora pro nobis!
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[i] The article can be read here: https://onepeterfive.com/german-catholics-shrug-at-the-popes-heresy/ [Accessed: 24 October 2024].
[ii] https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/7447-the-synod-s-massive-credibility-problem [Accessed: 24 October 2024].
