6 Sep Wed
We need young people to be real rebels. The premise doesn’t trouble me. We need “rebel” young people who fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. We need young people who take on everything that is good in today’s agenda, and who stand up for the Catholic faith – to be Catholic rebels in a culture that despises Christianity and the Church.
Pope Francis has often exhorted young people “to make a mess,” though he has never defined the kind of “mess” he wants them to make. I surmise he does not refer to a mess that inflicts deep wounds on the body of Christ, and thus upon the body’s Head – Jesus Christ. The German Synodal Way has made a mess, but at the cost of the Catholic faith.
Some of these men – and some others – may be considered rebels, but do they espouse causes that our rebel Catholic youth should be encouraged to join? No, they are simply Catholic rebels and leaders who embody sinful and dubious positions. We all may be sinners, but it is not our sins that are to be copied and encouraged.
The question arises: How, of all the men and women to choose from? Why not choose Saint Athanasius, who, as a defender of the faith, rebelled against the heresy of Arianism held by the emperors and some bishops? Why not follow Saint Thomas More, who rebelliously refused to obey the king and became God’s good servant instead?
Whenever man, overcome by his passions, freely and willingly severs his union with God, he once again brings about this sorry process of corruption in himself. For “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, says the Apostle St James. Then desire conceives and gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.” But it is still possible for the sinner to feel the weight of his guilt, and seek the freedom and salvation he has failed to find in material enticements. He can rebel against the slavery of sin, availing himself of the grace Jesus won for us.
Saint Josemaría: “I accept no slavery other than that of God's Love. As I have told you on other occasions, religion is the greatest rebellion of men, who refuse to live like animals, who are dissatisfied and restless until they come to know their Creator and are on intimate terms with him. I want you to be rebels, free and unfettered, because I want you - it is Christ who wants us! - to be children of God.”
“Slaves or children of God, this is the choice we face. Children of God or slaves to pride, to sensuality, to the fretful selfishness which seems to afflict so many souls.”
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