The air at the top is thin because there are so few there. Truth be known, the bottom level is topheavy because so many are lukewarm and have shunned their duty as true shepherds. If you must ask why Roe v. Wade has gone on this long, you need only look to the third level of shepherds to see why the flocks are so scattered and confused.

"The best advice I can bequeath to the readers as we wrap up this week is to pray for most of our clergy and religious. Pray for the frauds who call themselves our Catholic social and political leaders, and for the heretics who spew their trash with greater consistency than Old Faithful. Pray for those 'shepherds' who assimilate their actions and words to the lowest level above. They need our prayers more than you can imagine for when God calls in His marks, they will truly have hell to pay for their transgressions and sorry stewardship of souls. Those of you wondering why our faith is in the shambles that it is in now need only look at the permanent residence of much of our clergy, religious, social, and political leaders!"

    As we near the official end of the Christmas season with Candlemas less than a week away, which is also the day the Blessed Virgin Mary presented herself and her Divine Son in the Temple for the two-fold purpose of going through the Jewish custom of being purified (thus the Purification of Mary on February 2) and the Presentation of the Child Jesus as we remember in the fourth Joyful Mystery, it occurs to me that there are three levels of human enterprise. Today mothers continue the tradition of being purified 40 days after giving birth by what is generally called "the churching of mothers." The presentation of the child is carried out today at the Baptism, usually two to six weeks after birth. Once baptized, they depend on the shepherds to keep the wolves away and to guide them on their path.

   But this column is not about churching of mothers or baptism, for that matter, but to remind us that Christ left us shepherds to emulate - first at His birth, the humble shepherds who herded the sheep near the stable in Bethlehem, then His Apostles and their successors down through the centuries in carrying on what our Lord intended.

    With this in mind, our proximity to Christ will determine exactly what level we will conduct ourselves in. These levels are, in order from highest to lowest:

The Moral Level

    Here one conducts one's affairs based on what is morally right and consistent with one's moral code. As true Catholics, we have but one such code, and that is the one taught us by Christ Who lived that code on this earth. Simply put, whatever gives praise and honor to God Almighty and brings us closer to the salvation of our souls and that of others will be the target of our conduct.

    The clueless people, especially those spineless prelates who patronize those who pretend that abortion or sodomy are morally acceptable, pretend to be operating at this level but are actually working at the lowest rung of the level below. The key distinction is that one cannot operate at this level without being consistent with God's Word and Will no matter how smooth or charismatic one's rationalizations and euphemisms may be!

The Justice Level

    Here one at least attempts to do what is right and fair by this world's standards. As true Catholics, we will always operate consistently with Eternal and Divine Justice if we remain at the level above this one. The danger inherent in acting on this level as opposed to the one above is that what may seem fair or consistent with this world's justice may not always be so in relation to God's Divine Justice, which may be beyond our reckoning or imperfect understanding. Simply put, to pretend that true good can always be obtained by remaining at this level is to pretend that man can always know what is best whether or not God is involved!

The Practical Level

    Here is where the dangerous, heretical "Universal Salvation" can slither in. Those who think that Christianity or the Catholic Faith is all about helping the poor and hungry while ignoring the intrinsic evil of abortion, for example, are intoxicated in the notion that this level is all one needs to find salvation. Many bishops go out of their way not to offend those who freely offend Christ by their actions and non-committal to the divine will. Here on this level you will find the vast majority in the New Order church for misery loves company.

Clerical Mailing Address

    The best advice I can bequeath to the readers as we wrap up this week is to pray for most of our clergy and religious. Pray for the frauds who call themselves our Catholic social and political leaders, and for the heretics who spew their trash with greater consistency than Old Faithful. Pray for those 'shepherds' who assimilate their actions and words to the lowest level above. They need our prayers more than you can imagine for when God calls in His marks, they will truly have hell to pay for their transgressions and sorry stewardship of souls. Those of you wondering why our faith is in the shambles that it is in now need only look at the permanent residence of much of our clergy, religious, social, and political leaders!

Conclusion

    The next time that you wonder why so many Catholic clerical, religious, political, social and media types are so twisted and confused, consider that most of them have bought large chunks of real estate in the lowest level above. The next time that you wonder why bishops and cardinals present such vague and open-ended documents that allow sin to fester and grow even as such writings pretend to stop that sin and evil, take a look at the lowest level and the lowest rung of the second level. Tragically, it is clear that most if not all so-called Catholic clerical, religious, political, and social leaders would rather feed a hungry person or be interviewed on television than stand firm against intrinsic evils such as abortion! Sadly, "easy" and "politically correct" have rarely meant "morally right". Bottomfeeders all who truly need our prayers.

Gabriel's Clarion
Saturday
January 28, 2006
Volume 17, no. 15