Highbrow Bishops Shepherding Their Lowbrow Flock
THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG
One day a prairie chicken found an egg and sat on it until it hatched.
Although the prairie chicken didn’t know it, the egg was an eagle egg, abandoned for some reason.
That’s how an eagle came to be born into a family of prairie chickens.
While the eagle is the greatest of all birds, soaring above the heights with grace and ease, the prairie chicken doesn’t even know how to fly.
In fact, prairie chickens are so lowly that they eat garbage.
As you can imagine, the little eagle, being raised in a family of prairie chickens, thought it was a prairie chicken.
It walked around, ate garbage, and clucked like a prairie chicken.
One day it looked up to see a majestic bald eagle soar through the air, dipping and turning.
When it asked its family what it was, they responded, “It’s an eagle. But you could never be like that because you are just a prairie chicken.”
Then they returned to pecking the garbage.
The misplaced eagle spent its whole life looking up at eagles, longing to soar with them.
It never once occurred to it to lift its wings and try to fly.
The little eagle died thinking it was just a prairie chicken.
The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
This is my analysis of the condition of our Church:
Whether one uses the term progressive or modernist or whatever term that points to someone’s “perceived” belief that they, in fact, possess some new (evolved?) and superior understanding, these connote the scent of “highbrow.” From the dictionary, “highbrow” is define as “a person who possesses or has pretensions to superior learning or culture.” Of course, we know, this “highbrow” belief in a superior knowledge is pervasive in all of the major institutions: The media, Hollywood, TV, universities, public schools, theater, the arts, literature.
In assessing the source of the devastation (wreckovation) within the Catholic Church, over the past 50 years, we must be willing to admit that this same pride or, better yet, arrogance – “highbrow” – of our modern bishops has been the poisonous tree. The fruit of the poisonous tree are listed by St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians: “Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21).
We live in a fallen world, a world that tells us that our happiness consists of material pleasures, monetary success, and popularity. But, we are meant for greater things – a higher life – because we are God’s own children, created in his image and likeness and redeemed by his own eternal Son, Jesus Christ.
A half century of weak “highbrow” modern bishops believed they possessed a superior knowledge, never known to previous generations. What was this “superior knowledge” these arrogant highbrow modern bishops believed they possessed? These modern bishops believed we are nothing but prairie chickens. In other words, for them, it is lowbrow for anyone to believe they can actually soar under the power of the Holy Spirit; it is lowbrow to believe there is such a thing as a “state of supernatural grace” that gifts us with a real power to live holy and virtuous lives; it is lowbrow to believe there is such a thing as an active and involved God who actually hears and answers prayer and grants miracles. No, these highbrow, arrogant modern bishops know better than that. No, we are merely Homo sapiens – merely prairie chickens – who are only capable of eating the garbage of this sinful world. No, we are all sinners – not sinners who seek redemption – no, we are all “just sinners” … prairie chickens who are incapable of anything more.
So, in these “enlightened” times, we must strip out everything that misguides the lowbrow prairie chickens to ever believe they can soar under the supernatural power of God. We must strip out anything that points to the transcendent … Churches must look like conference centers, Masses must focus on entertainment rather than God, Confession must be diminished as crumbs for the psychologically weak, devotions must be mocked as deranged fanaticism, scripture accounts of miracles must be explained away. Moreover, we must compromise with and conform to the world – never stand against the world – because the world is more powerful than God. All of those silly bishops and saints who soared and encouraged others to soar, before our modern bishops, were misguided and un-evolved. No, the modern bishops have arrived and, with their evolved and superior understanding, they are setting this aright – we are all just prairie chickens.
Finally, pastors who believe and teach that we are capable of soaring by a higher power must be vilified and chastised, and treated as dangerous. This, while those who constantly remind the people they are only prairie chickens, incapable of soaring, must be praised for their “pastoral sensitivity.”
Modern bishops, are you ushering in the last days St. Paul wrote about in his letter to Timothy?
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Well, bishops, despite everything you have done over the past 50 years to deny the power of God, we will continue to help our people to understand they are not just prairie chickens. God DOES give us the supernatural strength and power to soar with wings as eagles! We are EAGLES, Bishops, not prairie chickens!
