Koan #38: Deceit and the Church

It is a most remarkable phenomenon to listen and read those that are deeply virulent and hateful in their attacks against the Catholic faith and the Church that protects it. Indeed, it is remarkable precisely because the attacks used are so often full of conscious distortions, exaggerations, misunderstandings, distractions, misinformation, half-information, dishonest omissions and at times, out-right and blatant lies; all of which are proven to be verifiably false with just a slight amount of investigative acumen. Yet what this fact raises is an even more fascinating point. For why, if the Catholic faith and its Church are such an easy target to defeat—as its opponents claim—must these distortions, exaggerations and falsehoods be employed? Why, if the Church and its claims and its teachings require no strong effort to crush, cannot the simple, plain and honest truth be employed in the task of doing so? Why is the extra tool of dishonesty used by all, from Unbelievers to Believing Dissenters, if the bare, pure and unadorned truth should suffice to discredit the Church? Perhaps—and an unwilling and unwanted explanation it will be for many—it is because this naked truth does not suffice to defeat the Church and what it teaches. Perhaps it is because if the full truth was actually spoken, it would bring people to the Church rather than push them away from it. And perhaps it is because the truth clings more tightly to the Church, than to any of its opponents. Thus in sum, these facts, if nothing else, show much concerning the “truth” that the opponents of the Church use, but even more, these facts show much concerning the actual Truth surrounding the Church herself.

Koan #37: Inane Trivialities

It is truly a strange and distressing phenomenon, that Man will spend an inordinate amount of time—his most precious resource—discussing the most inane trivialities, but not even grant a moment of reflection for that which may affect Him eternally. Pray that one is not such a man!

Koan #36: Changing the World

It is the sign of a well-intentioned, but naive and unreflective mind, of those that state that they wish to “change the world.” For truly, “changing” the world is by no means a difficult thing, nor is it necessarily desired, as many evil men have indeed changed it. What is difficult, by contrast, is to change one‘s self—with God’s grace—both consciously and specifically from a proclivity towards evil to an intense revulsion towards it, thus striving for a moral perfection and holiness not often seen. And in doing this simple, yet certainly not easy thing, the world would be immeasurably changed in a manner both worthy and deserving of change.

Koan #33: Different Saints Different

Even though those prone to moral equivocation will certainly and erroneously disagree—although they have only to read the very primary source materials that they claim they have read to see their error—the most interesting, clear, profound and plain difference between Christian fanaticism and Islamic fanaticism is that the Christian fanatic is called a saint while the Islamic fanatic is called a suicide bomber. Undeniably, in man’s most recent times, the Christian fanatic is a Mother Theresa while the Islamic equivalent is an Osama Bin Laden. With this in mind, the Faithful must never allow such equivocators any quarter, lest the equivocators spread their fallacies to further unwary minds.

Koan #31: The Truth of Abstinence

It is often touted by Her detractors, that when speaking of the Holy Church’s teaching on sexual control through abstinence, that this approach “simply does not work.” Yet it takes no great thought to know that abstinence does, of course, work completely and fully; it is, indeed, totally effective. But of course what such critics mean—in their twisting of words—is that abstinence is simply too difficult to do, thus clearly demonstrating that its “failure” is a failure of the individual’s will, not of the technique itself. And thus only the fool can claim that a failure of will is the same as a failure of technique, which simply reinforces the Church’s teaching on the most effective technique of sexual control. Truly, let one thus be frank with such opponents: abstinence has not been tried and determined defective, but rather, it has been found taxing and thus not tried.

Koan #30: God will Ask How

Let the personally and professionally down-trodden, discouraged and disappointed always remember: when one must account for one’s self before God, He will, without doubt, ask how one did the things he did in his life before he asks what one did in his life. Therefore stand firm to the understanding that how one does what one does is most certainly of greatest importance than the what itself, for God is happier with a compassionate kitchen-hand than a conceited king. Truly, it is no accident that the Lord chose to be born into a family of labourers! Thus again, remember this the next time despair and disappointment are felt about one’s position and place in this life, for even if one cannot change what he does, he can change how he does it.

Koan #25: The Church is Not a Force for Good in this World

It is an issue often raised by both Unbeliever and Believer alike, though it is primarily the former that uses it as a form of attack against the latter. And the issue itself is whether the Catholic Church has, is and will be a force for good in the world. Upon first glance, such a question may indeed seem interesting and intellectual, if not down-right critical to answer. Yet it only takes a further moment of actual reflection to see just what an inappropriate and twisted—even foolish—question that this is. Why? For the Catholic both knows and has been warned (John 15:18-25) that those that do not believe in the Church or follow her, will view what She teaches as “good for the world” as bad and what She teaches as “bad for the world”, they will see as good. Indeed, the world shall hate the Church, as the Church has been told, for what She holds morally dear. Therefore the Catholic can never convince the Unbeliever of the Church’s goodness in this world until he convinces the same Unbeliever to actually see and agree to the true good that the Church teaches. Till this is achieved, all that the Catholic states as good for the world will be seen as its reverse, or at the very least, it will be seen in a misaligned manner, rendering the Unbeliever’s view of it naturally skewed. And furthermore, as this world is fallen and as the men in it are wounded in conscience, it is no surprise that Catholicism and its teachings and its actions will be viewed as bad rather than good, for it presents a light that pierces through a darkness that does not wish to be penetrated, and even detests the light for its illuminating work. Let the Catholic thus be comforted in the knowledge that when any Unbeliever intones that the Church is not but a force for evil and pain in this world, it is simply confirming what the Catholic should expect, and consequently, it should serve to actually strengthen the Believer’s faith, not deteriorate it.

Koan #20: Science or Scientists

Is the Faith at war with science? Should the Faith fear science? Does the Faith contradict science? Of course not. Is the truth at war with truth? Should the truth fear truth? Does the truth contradict truth? How absurd! Yet wait, for the Faith is at war with some scientists. And the Faith should fear some scientists. And the Faith indeed contradicts some scientists. This cannot be denied. Let the Faithful therefore, be wary of the scientist himself, not the tool he uses, just as the Faithful should be wary of all men in this fallen world. For the scientist is not immune from the biases, prejudices, narrow-mindedness, follies, faulty interpretations, partialities, preconceived notions, foregone conclusions, presuppositions, wilful blindness, emotional manipulations, unconscious predispositions, and evidentiary favouritisms that influences all men. And thus let the Faithful remain vigilant against any man and his words, whether he be one of science or not.

Koan #19: All Must Change

What is often scorned as too difficult and unnecessary by many an Unbeliever, ignored by many a hypocritical Believer, and imperfectly attempted by the true Faithful, is the understanding, knowledge and acceptance of this fact: when one chooses to pick up his Catholic Cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then this changes everything. And it is not merely enough to say this one word, for its use is often employed but rarely fully elucidated. So what does “changing everything” mean in practical and direct terms? It means that the Believer must change: what he thinks about the Divine; what he listens to; how he listens to what he listens to; what he believes about his future life; what he watches; how he watches that which he has chosen to watch; what he reads; how he reads it; what he speaks about; how he articulates his words; what he debates; how he debates; how he deals with the political sphere; what he studies; how he studies it; what he thinks; how he thinks about it; what he questions; how he brings forth those questions; the morals that he holds dear; how he socializes with the world; who he socializes with in this world; where he socializes; what he socializes about when he does socialize; where he goes; how he uses his time; how he spends his money; how he treats the poor; the virtues that he develops; how he deals with strangers; the vices that he rejects; how he views suffering; how he interacts with his spouse; how he treats his children; how he sees the world; how he cares for himself; how he creates and arranges his personal priorities; the ethics that he applies; what he thinks about the human person; what he believes about his very existence; how he views the supernatural; how charitable he is; how materialistic he is; the philosophies he subscribes to; the work that he chooses; how he conducts himself in public; how he completes the work that he has chosen; how he feels; if he fasts; how he sees himself alone in the dark; how he thinks of human nature; how he thinks of good and evil; if he even believes in good and evil; how he controls and directs his emotions; how he views the environment; what he drinks; what he teaches his children; what he wears; what he eats; if he prays; how he walks and a further list of endless things. Now it was no doubt tedious to read such a list—incomplete though it is—as it may have been believed that such things were already known, and perhaps they were, but it is necessary to see them written forth, so that a full realization of the extent of the change required is plainly seen. Let the future Believer be ready for this. Let the current Believer practice it. And let the one who fears it or finds it foolish turn his back and walk away.

Koan #17: Standing Tall in the Public Square

It is often told to Believers that their views deserve neither attention nor consideration within the public square, as such views and opinions stem only from subjective religious sentiments that do not deserve deliberation in the realm of “reason” and “rationality”. Yet the Christian, and more specifically the Catholic faith, is no less objective, respectable and valuable than any secular perspective, for is not the Catholic worldview based on historical facts, philosophical arguments, logical formulations, legitimate ethical outlooks, deep traditions, civilizational importance, cultural clout and social significance? Indeed it is, making it as worthy of discourse and consideration—if not more so—than any other social, cultural, political or secular worldview. Let those of the Faith, therefore, remember this fact, and never permit themselves to be pushed from secular discourse or from the public square by such a disingenuous, thoughtless and carelessly developed argument as this one, which may indeed be met when interacting with the world at large.

Koan #16: Modern Man's Moral Merit

It is a sick truism of modern man’s current culture, that he has more qualms about boiling such a thing as a lobster than tearing apart the body of an unborn human being, which indicates much of his moral stature and cultural worth. Yet the hope is that he shall soon correct his ways, lest nature and God do so for him.