Don't blame James Carroll

Yes, I know, as some of you have told me, that James Carroll has remained true to form in his latest diatribe against...the Catholic Church. Today his victim is in the person of the Holy Father.

(And the Council of Trent, by George!)

Mr. Carroll—or rather, The Boston Globe and her owners and sisters and brothers— are ticked off because of the one-two punch in defense of orthodoxy recently delivered by the Holy Father.

Personally, I think they're really ticked off because so many people...aren't.

And I believe the powers-that-be of the rapidly dying main stream media are in full-fledged panic-mode.

I mean, when you read something like this...

Pope Benedict, in last week's denigration of Christian traditions that lack the unbroken "apostolic succession" of Catholicism, for example, was seeking to protect the "deposit of faith," those core beliefs that were established by the Apostles themselves. But such literalist reading of apostolic succession goes out the window when one learns that none of the actual Apostles thought that they themselves were establishing a "church" in our sense, independent of Judaism. Similarly, the New Testament is "inspired," but what does that mean for appeals to "apostolic" authority when one learns that its 27 books were not "canonized" until three centuries after Jesus?

...you realize two things:

One, the columnist has an inordinate love of those annoying finger quotes. As in "apostolic succession," "inspired," "church," and so on. One can imagine him at a dinner party among the beautiful people, well-manicured hands cleverly invoking knowing laughter from the Thinking People using those—I repeat, annoying,—finger quotes.

Two, the poor guy doesn't have a clue.

Which is my point. Don't blame the bugger. He doesn't know what he's doing.

The Globe, on the other hand, has an inkling. Or thinks she does. As does her owner, that Gray Lady in Manhattan. As does most of the mainstream media.

They're as terrified—and as ferocious—as a cornered rat. Of the Catholic Church.

Why? I'm not sure, really. Do you know? I've got some ideas.

A. Homosexuality.
B. Abortion.
C. Faith.

Just some guesses, actually. The truth is, no doubt, found in today's Gospel.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.
I have come to bring not peace but the sword.
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s enemies will be those of his household."

Jesus loves James Carroll. He loves the people who publish Carroll's nonsense.

But He's not about, I don't think, to stand for much nonsense. Oh, He'll let us read it. But He's given us enough grace—and wisdom, to boot—to see through it.

And to pray for those who would love to kill our Faith (as if that were possible).

And to recognize that the one who would love to kill our faith (small f) is real, and will—if we let him—do it. Through people who would rather find their lives here on Earth, even at the cost of losing their lives eternally.

It's our job to make sure that we don't lose our lives...and to try our best to make sure others don't lose theirs.

We do this through prayer and good works.