Impregnated by the lessons of Rousseau, man is proud to have founded the religion of modernity upon equality.
Never was human pride more wrongly placed.
Equality is a lure, or rather a trap, favored by jealous hearts at pains to find the least trace of it in nature. But today nobody contemplates nature to draw from it lessons for life. Egalitarianism can calmly continue releasing its poisons and completing its wretched work of destruction of all authority. Undermined by this mortal egalitarian illusion, society is slowly dying.
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
Impregnated by the lessons of Rousseau, man is proud to have founded the religion of modernity upon equality.
Never was human pride more wrongly placed.
Equality is a lure, or rather a trap, favored by jealous hearts at pains to find the least trace of it in nature. But today nobody contemplates nature to draw from it lessons for life. Egalitarianism can calmly continue releasing its poisons and completing its wretched work of destruction of all authority. Undermined by this mortal egalitarian illusion, society is slowly dying.
The work of undermining has been magnificently carried out! The simple mention of the word "authority" causes a reflex reaction: when we bear this hated word, our sick minds instinctively think "tyranny."
We think that he who has authority can only have acquired it at the price of unspeakable chicaneries. We remain intimately persuaded that he will use his power as an instrument to fulfill his desire for revenge - because didn't he have to suffer beforehand the constant vexations of some authority? We fall back on the alleged evidence that power corrupts and that its most striking characteristic is the thirst for more power...
These false reasonings create hostility against any authority. We find it very difficult to trust authority. But we do not hesitate to pour bitter criticisms upon it. We are - much more than we think - eaten away by this morbid jealousy that is egalitarianism.
It is necessary to give back to authority its nobility.
Saint Peter affirms it clearly: "All authority comes from God. " Authority belongs to God alone, and man exercises it only as a participation in God's authority.
Creation marvelously illustrates this simple but strong truth: the act of creation is not a starting point that took place millions of years ago, but a continuous act that maintains in existence even the least of creatures. God is the sovereign Master of all things.
In order to understand properly the sacred reality of authority, however, it is advisable not to stop with the order of creation, but to penetrate into the intimacy of the divine life and to adore in God His paternity. "Nemo tarn Pater'7 said Tertullian - God is, primarily, Father. And Saint Paul says, in a splendid passage of the epistle to the Ephesians: "I bend my knee before the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ from Whom all paternity in Heaven and on earth draws its name " (Eph. Ill, 14-15).
When exercised in the order of creation, this paternity is the supreme authority on which all the others depend.
Thus, original sin is primarily a refusal of this paternity and the Gospel, which means literally "surprising news," is the amazing announcement that God is really our Father and that He wants to restore our divine filiation by the effusion of the Blood of His Son!
In Adam we refused our true vocation and preferred the shameful slavery of our passions to the freedom of the children of God. This act of pure madness, by which we dared to proclaim our independence and our rights, is a crime of parricide.
Thanks to the redemptive Incarnation of Our Lord, the Only-Begotten, the witness and herald of the Father, we have the joy of being able to call God - in all truth - Father, Our Father.
This extraordinary intimacy between God and man should not make us forget the duty to repair our crimes. Both the honor and the mercy of God demand it. His honor, because it is only justice that our crimes do not remain unpunished and the Blood of Christ shed upon the cross is the undeniable proof. His mercy, because God, never allowing Himself to be overcome in generosity, is not satisfied with simply forgiving us. From now on, we are mercifully invited here also to participate in this work of redemption by uniting our sufferings with those of Christ, thus giving them some value.
We have refused to submit to the authority of God and we have laughed at His paternal love. We must, from now on, repair our refusal and wash away the offence committed by subjecting ourselves to human authorities, which are by nature fallible and defective. This submission is hard for our pride! In consequence, instead of respecting the plan of God for us and discovering His merciful love there, we cravenly find an excuse in the defects of men in order to justify our disobedience. And this disorder is supported by the principles of equality and independence which, alas, impregnate our times.
Is it sufficient to talk about a crisis of authority to describe the greatest evil that corrodes our times? The crime of Adam is perpetuated by the widely accepted “principles of 1789," that is, the principles of the French revolution. Revolution is, in the end, nothing more than a visceral refusal of society to acknowledge the paternity of God.
In Christo sacerdote et Maria,
Fr. Yves le Roux
NEWS FROM THE SEMINARY
• For this summer, the Seminary has scheduled an Ignatian Retreat for Men, from July 2 to 7. There will be no retreat for women.
• The Seminary has also had the joy of receiving the visit of H. E. Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais and of hosting the Priests' Meeting. Fifty-eight priests came to the Seminary for five days of conferences and rest. Bishop Tissier administered some confirmations and gave conferences to the priests on the mystery of Redemption.
• We thank you for your financial help. We were able to finish the new conference room in the Seminary basement (where the old bowling alley used to be) just in time for the Priests' Meeting.