For God will not except any man’s person, neither will He stand in awe of any man’s greatness. For He made the little and the great, and He hath equally care of all.—Wis 6:8.
Last week, I was in a desert in Africa. That desert is majestic and unforgiving, as seen in the picture I snapped above. In the desert, one realizes how insignificant he be before God. For example, if I wandered off into the desert and died, I would be the talk of Catholic Twitter for a day. Friends would say how great I was. Enemies would say how terrible I was. But within a week, only friends would be praying for me. Within a month, maybe five people would pray for me every day. My bones would be covered with sand in very little time. But God remains from everlasting unto everlasting.
As I think about Our Faith from the desert, I am amazed how man-centered American Catholicism is. Even Muslims in this country refrain from being as man-centered as most American Catholics. Not only the far-left, but even the mainstream Catholic celebrities act like teenagers to get people thinking about themselves in light of God. For example, I can think of one American Catholic priest with an enormous following who talks like a teenage girl. He giggles to take the edge off of anything harsh he says. He sputters, starts and then re-starts his sentences to make them sound extemporaneous. (They’re not.) But the big shocker for me is that he has hundreds of thousands of adult listeners. All this, while sounding like a MegaChurch youth-minister from the 90s.
Many of America’s most famous Catholic podcasters (with a few exceptions) are promoting moralistic therapeutic Deism (even if they claim to avoid it.) Some will sprinkle in the Eucharist and the saints. Thus, most listeners think they’re listening to solid teaching. But it’s the same emotional Gospel found at Steubenville conferences. Yes, even most adult Catholics in America are attracted to self-centered theology. They would rather learn about their own lives than that of Christ as told by the saints. (What is unique about my totally-free Scriptural and Catechetical series is that I use all ancient and orthodox sources, not new heretics or even many of my own insights.)
Of course, we want to approach Our Savior Jesus Christ with the heart and trust of a child: Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.—Mt 18:3-4. But also listen to the Apostle Paul (who can never contradict the Gospel:) When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.—1 Cor 13:11 and Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.—1 Cor 14:20.
The Desert Fathers were able to foster adult minds and children’s hearts. They saw the glory of the Blessed Trinity as the center and goal of things visible and invisible. In fact, the saints even saw Christ (crucified and risen) as the Alpha and Omega of salvation history—not just my emotions about Him. Kings and paupers went to the desert of Egypt and stood in silent awe before the majesty of God. Kings and paupers had the same bacteria growing through their guts while alive, and the same wind blowing over their bones after dying in the Thebaid. They lived by the Scripture quote seen above: For God will not except any man’s person, neither will He stand in awe of any man’s greatness. For He made the little and the great, and He hath equally care of all.—Wis 6:8.
St. Paul’s theology made these lasting converts. Giggling priests starting-and-restarting like school-girls makes temporary converts, even if there’s no blatant heresy in it.
Of course, the Desert Monks knew Jesus loved them (each one of them) enough to die for them on the cross as if they were the only monk who ever existed. Same for Jesus dying individually and intimately for every diocesan priest or housewife or bed-bound man out there. But American Catholics have heard for years how much Jesus loves them. Maybe we priests should start telling them how to love Jesus back: If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.—John 14:15
The fact is that God stands in awe of no man’s greatness. God is infinitely loving, but He is also infinitely majestic, holy and powerful. If we podcasting priests want to make lasting converts, we should probably stop making God out to be an obsessed-babysitter who runs Providence-errands at our whim. The adult Catholics listening to American podcasting priests out there need to start worshipping God as adults. Children’s hearts, yes—but adult minds. How to start this? Maybe get on your knees in silence more often before the Awesome and Unspeakable Glory of the Blessed Trinity. Yes, God loves you, but he’s not a giggling-robot who runs tasks to make you happy on earth. Try loving him back to actually be fulfilled in life.