Thinking in the Flesh

 

ON THE FEAST OF THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER,
THE APOSTLE

I follow no leader but Christ
and join in communion with none but your blessedness,
that is, with the chair of Peter.
I know that this is the rock
on which the Church has been built.
—St. Jerome, A.D. 396 A.D., Letters 15:2

 

or watch here.

 

Those are words that even thirteen years ago would have been happily echoed by most faithful Catholics around the globe. But now, as Pope Francis lies in ‘critical condition,’ so too, perhaps, is trust in “the rock on which the Church has been built” also in critical condition…

 

Thinking in the Flesh

Undoubtedly, this has been a controversial papacy from the start. Francis made history as the first non-European pope of the modern era, the first from Latin America, the first Jesuit, and the first to assume the name Francis. Some saw this as a needed and refreshing perspective for the papacy. But from his first rather unemotional appearance on St. Peter’s Balcony to numerous controversial off-the-cuff remarks, appointments, and documents… many have wrestled with accepting him from the get-go.

Ironically, Peter also wrestled with accepting Jesus’s mission from the very beginning. When Jesus asked who the disciples thought He was, Simon declared:

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church…” (Matt 16:17-18)

From that moment on, Jesus began to show his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes; be killed, and on the third day, be raised from the dead. But as quickly as Peter was declared rock, he became a veritable stumbling stone as he fell into worldly thinking.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”  (cf. Matt 16:21-23)

Do we not hear this same kind of thinking in the flesh in the Body of Christ today? “God forbid that our pope be imprecise! God forbid that he create a mess! God forbid that (like Jesus), he appoint a Judas to the Curia, or meet and greet with public sinners, etc.!’

“God forbid!”

Unable to perceive a divine purpose behind this present trial nor accept a papacy with warts, so it seems, many have simply rebuked the notion that we could ever be in such a state — ever have such a papacy. They have explored every possible means and angle to invalidate the resignation of Benedict XVI or even suggest that the late pope conspired to only partially resign the papacy — thus ultimately invaliding the election of Pope Francis (see Who is the True Pope?). But as author Steven O’Reilly rightly points out:

…[this] theory makes Benedict into a monstrous liar; a man derlict in his duties, who abdicated his responsibility, though not his office, to “tend and feed” the Lord’s sheep (cf. Jn. 20:15-17); leaving them prey for the last [eleven] years to an anti-pope and a “false church”. Incredibly, the theory implicitly argues that Benedict concluded it was better to pretend not to be pope, than to actually serve as pope! It is an unbelievable theory, and it is utterly ridiculous. —Steven O’Reilly, Pope Benedict XVI – The Case Against the Benepapists, p. 86-87

Yes, in a Church of martyrs, it seems unthinkable that Benedict went to the grave too afraid to simply tell the truth.

Is this not the same worldly thinking and rationalizing as Peter, attempting to control and manipulate the purposes and Divine Will? Here’s why…

 

The Passion of the Church Must Come

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,

Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers… The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. —n. 675, 677

This means that we must go through our own Gethsemane when shepherds will be cowardly, contradictory, and scattered…

All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed.’ (Mark 14:27)

It means we will go through a terrible division within the Church herself as her own members mock the spirit of prophecy,^[1]Matt 27:40-43 excuse their self-righteousness with the law,^[2]Matt 26:65 and malign those who do not think as they think.^[3]Matt 27:22-25

…today we see it in truly terrifying form: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from external enemies, but is born of sin within the Church. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, interview on flight to Lisbon, Portugal; May 12th, 2010

Yes, born of worldly thinking. 

On the contrary, brothers and sisters, despite the real controversies of this papacy which I am not minimizing, they have served to begin sifting the weeds from the wheat. They have lured Judases into the open. They have pushed Catholics deeper into their Faith… or led them into the outer bands of schism. This papacy has caused some to withdraw their swords on social media… and others to kneel in silent abandonment and intercession at the foot of the Cross, as the “mystery of iniquity” hems us in.^[4]“Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.” —CCC, n. 675

May we be granted divine wisdom to perceive the purposes and plans of God, to cooperate with them in charity while striving, as best we can, to maintain unity in the Body of Christ… lest we, too, hear Our Lord’s rebuke: Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to Me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.

 

Related Reading

Who is the True Pope?

 

Your support is needed
and appreciated
for this full-time ministry!

 

To journey with Mark in The Now Word,
click on the banner below to subscribe.
Your email will not be shared with anyone.

Now on Telegram. Click:

Follow Mark and the daily “signs of the times” on MeWe:

Follow Mark’s writings here:

Listen on the following: