Honest Questions Begging Honest Answers

A friend recently mentioned that he had been thinking a lot about Psalm 11:3 that asks, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” I think a lot about it too. It is a serious question, one that parallels 2 Peter 3:11 that asks, “Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved [referring to the end of time and the fiery destruction accompanying it], what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness?”

These are seriously honest questions that beg seriously honest answers in any age. They are particularly sharp in this age in which we discover ourselves in … an age where conservative biblical morals are fast being overtaken by the amorality that gives this age its character.

The amorality of the modern age, as opposed to what has been easily recognized as immorality in former ages, is far more insidious than immorality. Amorality is an absence of, indifference towards, disregard, or incapacity for morality. Amorality should not be confused with immorality, which refers to a person doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Sin and sinfulness, for the amoralist, simply does not exist. Therefore, for the amoralist, there is no such thing as immorality.

I remember some of my professors, nearly forty years ago now, talking about the dangers of the budding amorality that was already then rooted and was beginning to wrap its tentacles around and infiltrate every area of life. Those tentacles have grown exponentially over the course of these forty years. They will only grow longer and stronger as the beast gorges itself on the souls it is devouring.

What we see going on around us, as the fruit of this age, should inspire and provoke us to evermore honestly and wholly answer, with our lived lives, the questions posed by Psalm 11:3 and 2 Peter 3:11.

I have recently begun reading the Catechetical Lectures of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. Cyril was born in 313 and died in 386. He succeeded Maximus as Bishop of Jerusalem around the end of 350 AD.

This is an extremely important transitional period in the life of the Church. Around the time of the birth of Cyril, Emperor Constantine issued a decree [Edict of Milan] that put an end to the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire. With the cessation of brutal persecution, it became relatively safe for Christians to practice their faith “above ground”. Cyril, and others from this time period, realized the need to expound the faith with all seriousness as a means to keep the above ground Church from falling into ease and laziness.

Saint Cyril’s Catechetical Lectures is an easy read. It is not a quick read, however, due to the number of lectures involved. Why so many? Why so much catechesis?

It helps to remember that the Church was not hasty back then. Catechumens were adequately discipled prior to being admitted to the Sacraments. The same is true today. [At least it is supposed to be.] Only today the course for adults seeking communion with the Church is normally nine months. Back in those early centuries it could take two years or longer before catechists were convinced that their catechumens were ready.

Ready? Ready for what?

Ready to not only to be admitted to communion in the Church but to also live and die as genuine followers of Jesus.

There is a third question that easily attaches itself to the above two. It is, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? which having begun to be declared by the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. God also bearing them witness by signs, and wonders, and divers miracles, and distributions of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will.” Hebrews 2:3-4

The answer to this third question is simply, “We shall not.”

The Nativity of Christ is one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring occasions of all time and eternity. Who cannot be moved by the Gift of the Infant born in a stable and cradled in a feeding trough? Who cannot be challenged by the crisis of the whole human story [beginning with Creation and culminating with the Parousia at the end of time] and of how God chose to enter into such a vulnerable human state in order to redeem us from our sins?

From the beginning of Creation, even before the beginning of time and physical dimensions as we know them [Revelation 13:8], this plan of redemption was already deigned in the mind of God. Before God created us humans, he had already foreordained to condescend in order to provide a way for our eternal souls to be cleansed of the sin that would otherwise prohibit us from entering into his pure and unblemished holiness.