I am reading, and greatly benefiting from, Saint Thomas More's final work, The Sadness of Christ, which is a solemn meditation on the final hours of Christ's life. It was written in the Tower of London, while More was preparing for his own death and martyrdom. He dedicates a good deal of time discussing the agony of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, the sleepiness of his select apostles, and the busybody-ish activity of Judas Iscariot, who, far from indulging any inclination to sleep, was hyperactively carrying out his black perfidy against Our Lord. More offers a comparison that should give all bishops good reason to reflect on their own actions, or better said, their inaction.
Why do not bishops contemplate in this scene their own somnolence? Since they have succeeded in the place of the apostles, would that they would reproduce their virtues just as eagerly as they embrace their authority and as faithfully as they display their sloth and sleepiness! For very many are sleepy and apathetic in sowing virtues among the people and maintaining the truth, while the enemies of Christ, in order to sow vices and uproot the faith (that is, insofar as they can, to seize Christ and cruelly crucify Him once again), are wide awake--so much wiser (as Christ says) are the sons of darkness in their generation than the sons of light.
One thing I love about Saint Thomas More is that he never minced words when writing about the faith. He wrote clearly, brilliantly and quite often harshly against those who undermined the Church and the society upon which it was built. But this rebuke of bishops is nevertheless extraordinary, as so many in his own day were shamefully and cowardly betraying the bishop of Rome and the Church of Christ in favor of worldly prestige and to placate the unhinged King Henry VIII. There were notable exceptions like Cardinal John Fisher who, like More, would pay the ultimate price and gain the ultimate crown as a result of his loyalty to Christ and to His Church. But England was lost, in large part because of the conspicuous failure of the bishops of the day to lead the faithful.
One must ask: Did the USCCB get the memo? With notable exceptions (and there are some excellent bishops who truly shine), so many American bishops are neglecting to fearlessly lead by example, and as a result, the faithful are left confused or indifferent as to how seriously the Church actually believes what it preaches. How many prominent Catholics routinely and without reservation flout the Church's teaching on life and the family, all the while boasting of their Catholicism, and thereby give grave scandal? I've lost count, to be frank. And what do the bishops do when faced with this kind of disobedience? Pat themselves on the back for a job well done. Sure, a statement may be issued to "clarify" what the Church teaches (as though we can't simply read the Catechism for ourselves) but then, life goes on as though everything is just fine in Catholic world. Anyone who urges more definitive action (usually devout laymen) is summarily and condescendingly dismissed as radical or divisive.
The "new normal" is a popular catchphrase today to describe the bad economy and high cost of living. Well, the "new normal" in the Church in the United States is, unfortunately, what I'm describing here. It's maddening, but it's deeply comforting to know that Saint Thomas More perceived this centuries ago, and answered it with prayer, personal sanctity, and a pen. He felt the same frustration as a layman that so many of us feel in the Church, a Church he loved and for which he gave everything.
Saint Thomas More, pray for us.
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