By Judie Brown
Years ago, 1977 to be exact, there was a popular Paul Simon song entitled “Slip Slidin’ Away.” The song was a musical testimony to the follies of a man who, try as he may, could not reach his goal because he continually seemed to be going backward. In a sense, that is what is happening to so many today as they embrace the evil they do without considering the eternal outcome of their deeds.
First we see the case of “Catholic” president Joe Biden who invites detractors of the teachings of Christ to his White House for brunch. Jesuit priests Thomas Reese and James Martin are no strangers to controversy, but they are by no means exemplary Catholic teachers.
Reese has denied that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, and he has embraced abortion. Martin is well known for his advocacy of homosexuality, including his comments that Catholics could in good conscience celebrate Pride Month, even though the Church has consistently taught that the practice of homosexuality is a sin. One wonders why Martin fails to teach that we are called to love the sinner but hate the sin.
And there are bishops who do not seem to be able to teach truth to the president. This includes Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, who was happy to give the body of Christ to the president while ignoring Catholic Texas governor Greg Abbott at Mass.
Of course this is the same archbishop who, at least according to one report, is all about virtue-signaling, which he appears to prefer to being a good pastor who recognizes the evil ways of people like the president.
Is it any wonder that the Catholic bishops, during their annual meeting in 2021, could not even bring themselves to issue a public statement declaring their agreement to deny the body of Christ to Biden?
These failures among the hierarchy have only emboldened Biden, who claimed during a St. Patrick’s Day speech to Catholic leaders, “You know, this has always been a special day for the Biden family and the Biden household. It’s not just about heritage, but it really is about faith. So much of it being Irish means to be connected to the Catholic teachings I grew up with.”
He is clearly unaware of the thin ice on which he skates in his presidential travels to the depths of hell. No man who has advocated killing little babies, promoting IVF, and aligning himself with organizations like Planned Parenthood can ever hope to attain eternal salvation with God, regardless of the Church in which he was raised. To attain that kind of final reward, one must be faithful to truth, not politics.
While some might suggest that Biden is ignorant about groups like Planned Parenthood that are in the business of selling the tiny arms, legs, and internal parts of the babies they have killed by abortion, I find that extremely hard to believe. It is as fantastical as the fact that there are pro-life people celebrating a 16-week ban on killing the preborn. In such a community of moral blindness, is it any wonder our doddering president can pretty much say anything and get a good headline out of it?
These are the results of much more than national incompetence to confront basic truth; they are examples of what Saint Paul taught the Corinthians: “If our gospel seems to be veiled at all, it is so to those who are on the way to destruction, the unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world, so that they cannot see shining the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
