| FROM THE SERVANT GENERAL MODERNISM (PART 68) |
| TRADITION OF THE ELDERS February 6, 2024 Today’s gospel: Mark 7:1-13 The Pharisees and scribes observed that Jesus’ “disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.” (v.2). When they questioned him about this, Jesus said, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” (v.6-8). This is a good definition of modernism. Modernists are hypocrites, able to mesh what is of God and what is of man, oftentimes with the latter given the greater importance than the former. They say the right words about God, but their hearts are far from Him and His precepts.They say that Jesus is Savior and Lord, but perhaps not the only one, since they claim all religions lead to the divine.They say that God welcomes and accepts everyone, including sinners, and that is correct, but fail to aver the requirement for full acceptance, which is repentance of sin and turning to faith in Jesus.They advance the concept of human fraternity, that all are brothers and sisters, but fail to stress that such fraternity can only truly be in Christ.They say that a good and loving God will not consign anyone to the eternal fires of Hell, and so either there is no Hell or if there is then no one is in it, but this negates the righteousness and justice of God. Modernism is teaching as doctrine human precepts. It is overturning the authentic faith, as taught by Jesus, the apostles and the Church. It is looking to the city of man rather than the city of God. It is looking to the well-being of man but at the expense of the worship and righteousness of God. Modernists say charity is not first and foremost about love of God but rather assert that human fulfillment lies in being a sincere gift to others.They say Holy Communion can be given to those in irregular unions, since God will not withhold such grace from anyone, including grave sinners.They say that cohabitations with fidelity are real marriage and have the grace of real marriage.They say that unrepentant grievous sinners (including apostates, blasphemers, heretics) are part of the communion of saints. Jesus goes on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!” (v.9). For modernists, what is first and foremost is human tradition, or as is the case today, the predominant human culture, rather than the eternal commandments of God. Rather than God first, it is man and his well-being first. Modernism is an overturning of the very teachings of Jesus and the apostles. “You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.” (v.13). * * * |
