John 5:31-47 Accepting Human PraiseWhile in the seminary, a priest once told our class, “If people applaud you, great; if they don’t, great. Regardless, do not look for human praise. It is the guillotine of saints.”
In a recent interview in Rolling Stone, the radical shock radio talk show host, Howard Stern, admitted to being addicted to human praises. He admitted that he needed to hear, on a daily basis, praise - that he was doing a great job and his programs were awesome. The man, who just signed a one hundred million dollar contract with SIRIUS radio, admitted that he needed to hear from others that he was THE BEST!
“The curse is I take it so seriously. I gotta know, do you think I did a good show and are you satisfied? That’s the neurosis and that’s the source of all problems for me.” (Howard Stern)
It cost him his previous job, it cost him his health and it nearly cost him his mind.
We cannot live like this, by craving the affirmation of others; that we are accepted. We cannot feed from such a fickle tree. This tree is the source of all our problems. It completely ignores the love that God has for each of his children who were created in his image and likeness.
The Lord is the light of the world and the salt of the earth. His speech is more direct and passionate. It is becoming clearer and clearer that the world will not welcome him. God is not welcomed. The Jews have not accepted him and he refuses to accept the human praise that is given to him for it is superficial. Jesus will not become our Emperor, our earthly King! The Lord was given to us for heavenly heights: to testify to the truth.
And what is the truth? That God is not in Heaven and things are not all right on earth! (G.K. Chesterton) The truth is more than just a philosophical concept drawn out from reality. The truth is a person, Jesus Christ. The truth is - not even the truth could save the world!
The Greeks sought after it and attempted to live by it, but in the end, they fell in their old sinful ways and were consumed by it. All who condemned Christ, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Greeks and the Romans, the magistrates, priests, scribes and soldiers and even the men and women in the market were united for the first time in history in their universal condemnation of the Son of Man! All men rejected THE MAN!
Pontius Pilate, enthroned by men to say what is justice can only ask the Man, “What is truth?” The condemned man is asked to define truth to the enthroned man. Here we have a reversal of roles, of Heaven and Hell, of life and death, of good and bad, of man and God.
Recently, this happened with Jacques Fesch, the killer turned saint. He was condemned to death, guillotined, not out of justice (the murder was not pre-meditated) but out of fear. Fear from the police union that would go on strike if he were pardoned; fear of the crowd from the President of the Republic if he were to pardon him (it was an election year).
In this world turned upside down, the desire for human affirmation is the guillotine of Saints.
The Guillotine of the Priests
ReplyDeleteThe desire for human praise is the basis for an agenda of control that is afoot in some dioceses.
Priests are invited to conferences with the promise of “learning to be better pastors”. As they learn operant conditioning and other techniques for controlling staff and parishioners, they are themselves being conditioned and subject to the control of others
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They are indoctrinated into a righteous sounding agenda which advances preferences for people of certain races, ethnic backgrounds, age groups, and other characteristics including physical appearance. This also results in the marginalization of certain non-preferred groups, which is just the first step in violating previously held principles. “If you did it to the least if these, you did it to Me.”
These priests will find dryness in their prayer life, and they may find old temptations, sins, weaknesses, and addictions coming upon them.
Eastern practices such as yoga (the invocation of foreign gods) may be promoted to fill the gaps with “other” religious experiences.
The behavioral techniques are now enhanced with a demonic element mimicking spiritual gifts.
The conditioning has taken place, and the substitution of lies for truth will continue unless and until the agenda is abandoned, rejected, and renounced in its entirety.
The trainers/controllers have usurped the position of the Holy Spirit.
If anyone asks, you did not hear any of this from me. . . . .
So yoga is bad? bad for Catholic beliefs?
ReplyDeleteNo, in the Catholic faith it is not correct to say "yoga is bad" anymore than saying "the internet is bad" or "fast cars are bad". There are a lot of bad things on the internet, and fast cars may kill people more than slow cars, but they are not bad in themselves. They can be used for good as well.
DeleteSame with yoga. It is a healthy sport activity, good for the body, and also good for the mind ('mens sana in corpore sano' goes the latin saying). But yoga can, like many things, be pushed to an 'extreme' in which creation and Creator are mixed up. Often I heard yoga instructors teaching you to somehow acknowledge/praise the spirit within you and in everything around you. While this is not entirely wrong, you can see how it's a dangerously slippery slope in which creation becomes Creator.
But, that's just, like, my opinion, man...