A comment from a reader in my email:
This talk of the bishops, and lots of talking, and going to war somehow calls to my mind the Ents.If our Entish bishops were to rouse themselves to war, they could be formidable.
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And they would speak words that have not been spoken for a verrrrrry lonnnnnng time.
Well, Excellencies: Is you aint’s or is you Ents?
[Nice Johnny Mercer reference!]
Well said, post and comments. I do pray for all Bishops, wherever situated. Under enormous pressure. At the same time a potential not comprehended or accounted for. It’s very hard to resist envisioning Bishops the way we discuss the government, to regard them on only or first and foremost those terms. Undeniably they are called to lead and act, to be effective. But what that consists of may or may not match the steps desired and it may or may not be outwardly observable, correlating with every issue in the news at the exact same moment the media or others set our agendas. I pray also that those who most vocally or dramatically define themselves and lead others to opposition can be reconciled to the Church for the good of all, including the persons of Bishops.
Kind of funny, after all they are both celibate, remain largely out of sight, are slow to be “roused”, and they are both shepherds. Let’s just hope that they don’t let Saruman out of Orthanc to create “a little mischief in a mean way.”
The only problem I see with that is that the Ents were never in doubt of doing the right thing…the USCCB however….
Also, the Ents had real power and could affect a change…the USCCB only has power insofar as they submit to Rome, for everything they do has to be ratified by the Holy See…
Nice try though, but I think that Tolkien would have said that the USCCB would have been more like the Secret Council of Elrond; in TA 3018.
I’m just sayin’….
Our Entish bishops do indeed do have power, the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, they’ve been asleep for a loooooooong time, but they seem to be waking up, one by one. They have a God-given masculine charism (father, fearless shepherd,) and along with that comes the God-given power to protect the flock from those who would attack and devour, and those who, through scandal, would lead the faithful over a cliff. Pray that they will heed the clarion call to arms. The Church must come against the homosexual juggernaut, abortion, euthinasia, contraception (the “third rail”,) and the marginalization of Christian, particulariy Catholic culture. Too much is at stake for bishops not to come out of their corners swingin’.
LOL! I would hope that the Bishops would move quickly once aroused against the actual enemy!
I am worried that there will be a back lash against those Catholics who have been pleading for the bishops to wake up and teach– and rather than go against the evils in our culture they will move to crush those who complain about the lack of orthodox teaching. A kind of defending of their authority rather than a proper use of it.
But the comparison made me smile.
HOORUM! Branch and twig! The Ents are going to war…. There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of men for this treachery …..” –Treebeard
Well, that made my day….
I get it. So that slogging deliberation we’re treated to each June and November will now be called a Mitre Moot?
…And it takes hours at the USCCB council meetings just to find out that all they have done is say hello
I loved the strong and powerful Ents in the Lord of the Rings! I wonder if the Bishops would agree with Treebeard when he said, “There is a shadow of the Great Darkness in the deep dales of the forest.”
“A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong.” The Two Towers, p. 131
Remember the Catholic bishops of the Philippines in your prayers. They are openly opposing the US backed “reproductive health” bill, sex ed in our schools, and divorce.
As a result, the government is trying to smear them…newspapers are proclaiming that seven expensive SUV’s were illegally given to six bishops ( and one Protestant leader) by the Charity sweepstakes funds.
After the headlines, someone noted that some of this money was actually for ambulances or pickup trucks used for charitable work, but never mind…. the outcry now is that any gift, even a pickup truck used to help the poor, is “against the constitution that separates church and state”.
Background: The ex president was suspected as diverting millions of dollars to her family and friends, and so part of this was discovered in the corruption investigation…but the outcry here, is out of proportion to the actual amount involved…