It’s my humble opinion that when most people hear about Jesus chasing the money changers out of the Temple a little smile comes upon our faces. Especially if we are asked to “dig a little deeper” for even a really good Catholic cause. Unfortunately, “the givers” make up a small percentage of people who “give” while many simply “enjoy”. To some of you reading this, I say “Thank you Thank you!” To others the message of this Gospel is found in Our Lord’s mysterious words, “destroy this Temple and I will rebuild it in 3 days.”
This provides us with a key connection to what Pope Pius X said in his Encyclical “On Modernism” (1907). As we saw previously, the title “On Modernism” is deceptive to us modern Catholics. I, like most of you, like living in the “modern world.” Imagine undergoing an operation without an anesthesiologist or writing a book without “Word”. To appreciate what this saintly Pope was saying we can connect it with what Jesus was saying. Christ wasn’t talking about the physical building but the culture, the world view, the moral and doctrinal teachings of the true faith. He was all these things. Pius X was screaming, “Watch out people! The modern world contains many errors that if allowed to grow and spread means the dismantling of what is rightfully called Christendom or what non-religious people like to call Western civilization. Many believers today, even Catholics who consider themselves “liberal” or “progressive”, would readily agree with the negative effects and
problems that atheism creates. But I want us to pay attention to a much more subtle error Pius X describes as “vital immanence”. It is a bit slippery to define, but it is evident in lots of “church speak” today. Pius X says, “If anyone says that Divine Revelation cannot be made credible by external signs, and that therefore men should be drawn to the faith only by their personal internal experience or by private inspiration, let him be anathema.” Anathema, for those accustomed to relying only on their grade school catechesis means: cast out of the church, destined to the fires of hell. Ouch! Us moderns are faced with a dilemma. Either we take him seriously or we side with the 16th century “reformers” and abandon our belief that the Holy Spirit teaches us through the magisterium. Let’s just say that “vital immanence” hides in today’s popular phrases. Admittedly, I’ve used some of them myself. “What does God’s existence mean to you personally, from your own experience?” “If you search your
feelings, you’ll find Catholicism to be true.” “I don’t believe in the institutional church: I only
trust what I see”. Or perhaps the slipperiest one today, “If you don’t feel a personal relationship with Jesus, you have no real faith.” The next article will drive deeper into this hornets’ nest.