Brother Knights,
As I write this, my daughters are preparing for “Catholic Prom” this weekend. Catholic Prom is an alternative for parents uncomfortable with or unwilling to allow their children to go to the schoolsponsored prom. This got me thinking about culture and our response to it. It seems to me there are three possible responses to any situation:
First is to do nothing. Second is to leave. Third is to change it.
The prom is a good example. In our case, we chose to leave by not allowing our children to participate, and in some sense, to try to change it by supporting something like Catholic Prom.
However, it much easier to do nothing and to leave things alone; after all, who do I think I am? Leaving or changing requires that judgment be made, and we are generally told that judging is wrong. But what is judgment, and why is it so bad? Simply put, judgment is weighing my standard against another, which carries with it the possibility of being wrong. Most people do not want to be wrong.
"... there are three possible responses to any situation:"
However, as Catholic men we are expected to judge things in the light of Mother Church. We made a promise to obey our bishops and priests because they have been given the responsibility to shepherd us. This is similar to our responsibilities for our children, to make good judgments for them, because we know they don’t have the experience or prudence to always make good choices.
As Knights we accepted an additional duty. We are obligated to not only obey our bishops and priest, but to go out of our way to actively support and assist them as they request our help. We are obligated to our families to not simply go along with what everyone else is doing, even fellow Catholics, but to actively promote a Catholic culture by forming ourselves and our children. We are to compare our lives to the teaching of the Church not our neighbors.
What can you do? Start with obedience. Obey the Church. Learn what the Church teaches on a subject, then change your thinking, habits, relationships, political affiliations, spending, whatever it is, to align with Church teaching. I will make it really simple: Do you expect your kids to listen to you? Then listen to your mother. If you think about it, obedience is really judging yourself against the standards of the Church.
If you have questions about what you ought to do, or how to do it, come to the next council meeting. Father Richards will be continuing his faith formation series during the meeting. I am sure he would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Remember to continue to pray for the Holy Father and Church.