Fidelity: what does that mean - especially in contemporary culture?

I recently attended the annual family reunion of my wife’s side of the family. Contrary to the stereotypes of family reunions, these are truly joyous occasions. My wife’s father, who is now in his nineties, has for four decades been a model for me about the importance of family life. Every year he brings the entire family together, and three generations of us spend a week eating, playing and just enjoying each other’s company.

I am not a sociologist, but it seems to me that this gathering is something of a microcosm of society today. Our views on politics, religion, morality, education and a host of topics are many and varied. In fact, there is little agreement among us about much of anything – except that family is important.

There are some who see abortion as a good thing and others who don’t, some who see the legalization of same-sex marriages as a good thing and others who don’t, some who see marriage and waiting for sexual intimacy until marriage as important and others who don’t. Most of the family members are not Catholic, but even among the Catholics there is not unanimous agreement about such things as the importance of regular Mass attendance. I didn’t ask, but I imagine that there would not be unanimous agreement among the Catholics in the group about the topic of divorce, remarriage and the reception of communion. I must admit that there were moments when I felt very old and very “out of touch” with modern culture.

This, I believe, is at the heart of the struggle to be faithful to the teachings and commands of Christ. The “culture of society” has since the first sin followed relentlessly a path away from the culture of Christ and away from the culture of what He would establish as His Church. In the modern era this path has become wider and wider and encompassed more and more of the population. We see the seeds of this modern culture sown in the Protestant revolution where a spirit of individualism was planted into the fabric of religious culture. This individualism sprouted and strengthened its roots in the Age of Enlightenment when man decided that he was the ruler of his own destiny – with or, even better, without God. The 18th-century revolutions that overthrew earthly monarchies also broke ties with our heavenly monarch.

The United States was born of this revolution. Thus, it is no coincidence that as this God-rejecting revolution spread to the new world and gave birth to the United States, Catholicism was outlawed or punished in one way or another in ten of the thirteen original colonies. While the American culture, for its first two centuries, certainly gave some acknowledgment to God, the essence of its nature was that of a man-centered culture, one that slowly would push God out of every possible aspect of its development.

This development of a godless American culture has come into full blossom during the last century. The 1930’s was a significant point in this societal evolution when virtually all religions except Catholicism succumbed to the use of contraception. Couples, with the endorsement of their religions, rejected marriage as a partnership with God in fulfilling His plan for procreation. In effect, they said, “It is not God Who has dominion over life, but we – man.”

If man has dominion over life, then he, too, has dominion over death, Thus, the legalization of abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide in the later decades of the century were only logical progressions in this man-centered culture.

The latest step in this progression, the legalization of same-sex marriage, is just another logical step. If marriage is not primarily about procreation, then what difference does it make if I marry a man or a woman? Indeed, while the Church attempts feebly to raise her moral voice in protest, the youth of the country have already moved much further down the path of a godless culture. To many, if not most, of them the issue of whether a man marries a man or a woman is somewhat quaint, because marriage itself is irrelevant.

Let me digress for just a moment, lest anyone think that I am un-American. In spite of its flaws, America has provided more benefits to more people – around the world – than any country in the history of the planet. Just to make sure I am clear, let me say it one more time: America has provided more benefits to more people – around the world – than any country in the history of the planet. At the same time, every man-made institution, even a good one, is imperfect. America is a good – no, a great institution, but it is not perfect, and its imperfections are showing more blatantly in these present days, at least partially because the voice of the Church has not been strong enough to keep God present in the evolution of the culture.

In fact, it would seem that the struggle to be faithful to the teachings and commands of Christ is as difficult inside the Church today as it is outside the Church. The preparations for the upcoming synod on marriage and the family – discussed in great detail in many other venues – are ample proof of these internal struggles.

We are entering a dark time for humanity. Those of us who believe in the importance of Scripture, the natural law, and continuity with Apostolic teaching will be made to feel old and “out of touch,” and relentlessly so. To make matters worse, we will be out of touch with many things, such as the latest apps, the latest movies, the latest “must-have” items; and a logic will be proposed that if we are so out of touch with material things, then surely we must be out of touch with the “progression” of spiritual matters.

However, this logic is flawed. Divine truths do not change. “Jesus, the Messiah, is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) The teachings of Christ are the same yesterday, today and forever. Indeed, to stay close to Christ and His teaching it is necessary to have a certain detachment, a certain “out-of-touchness,” from material things.

Collegium sanctorum angelorum will be a light in these dark times. It will be a bulwark against the relentless attacks of the godless culture, a place where students can build spiritual strength in a joy-filled and supportive environment, a place where they will be able comfortably to support each other in their own efforts to remain faithful to the teachings of Christ and His Church, and a place that will also prepare students spiritually and intellectually both to remain strong in the faith once they have left the college and to do their part in restoring Christ to the culture.

To be specific, Collegium sanctorum angelorum will offer a liberal arts education that

• is anchored in traditionally oriented Catholicism, including the “traditional” Mass (1962 missal) and Divine Office;

• is faithful to the magisterium of the Catholic Church;

• rejects the philosophy of Modernism;

• is as formational in its mission as it is informational;

• is strongly influenced by Benedictine spirituality in its approach to formation.

AND we are committed to making it affordable, which I will describe in another blog.

#collegiumsanctorumangelorum #catholiceducation #Fidelity