God is Love and Mercy. We are made in the image and likeness of God. Our faculties can be bent to move away from God by small decisions which cloud our discernment and will. One of the problems is that lay people are making decisions as if there is no change in the Church or in society, as if they were living in the 1950s.
This ostrich mentality must change or two things will happen. One, a person will not be ready physically for the challenges of a time of trial. Two, people will not be ready spiritually.
To pretend we are not on the cusp of one of the worst times of persecution. And, if you do not think people have their heads in the sand, just look at this. I am personally fed up with EWTN. More and more, the station has moved away from the cutting edge. prophetical tone set by Mother Angelica and become a Catholic main stream media, emphasizing trivia and not tackling the real issues of the day.
from Rorate:
*Update (0130 GMT): In an amazingly intolerant attitude, EWTN's National Catholic Register removed the post above minutes after it was posted by Patrick Archbold. This reminds us of the pure words of Benedict XVI exactly on this same affair, in a letter fully written by the Pope Emeritus personally:
Certainly, for some time now, and once again on this specific occasion, we have heard from some representatives of that community many unpleasant things – arrogance and presumptuousness, an obsession with one-sided positions, etc. Yet to tell the truth, I must add that I have also received a number of touching testimonials of gratitude which clearly showed an openness of heart. But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas? And should we not admit that some unpleasant things have also emerged in Church circles? At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them – in this case the Pope – he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint.
In this case, not the Pope Emeritus, but poor Pat Archbold. EWTN's National Catholic Register and their intolerance justproved Benedict XVI right - one more time! It cannot be that Pentecostals have full presence in their paper, and their own Catholic brothers and sisters (whose priests are in an irregular situation, but are still priests, celebrating Catholic sacraments every single day) do not. How can unity ever be achieved thus? Curiously enough, we are pretty confident that Francis would be the first to reject this demeaning level of servility and sycophancy.
*Second Update (0230 GMT): Mr. Archbold's article can now be found in his own personal website, here.