Weeping… All Over the World

Rationalism holds that reason and knowledge alone should guide our actions and opinions, as opposed to the intangible or emotion, and especially, religious beliefs. Rationalism is a product of the so-called Enlightenment period, when the “father of lies” began to sow one “ism” after another over the span of four centuries—deism, scientism, Darwinism, Marxism, communism, radical feminism, relativism, etc. —leading us to this hour, where atheism and individualism have all but supplanted God in the secular realm.

But even in the Church, rationalism’s toxic roots have taken hold. The past five decades, in particular, have seen this mindset tear away at the hem of mystery, bringing all things miraculous, supernatural, and transcendent under a dubious light. The poisonous fruit of this deceptive tree infected many pastors, theologians, and eventually lay people, to the extent that the Liturgy itself was drained of signs and symbols that pointed to the Beyond. In some places, church walls were literally white-washed, statues smashed, candles snuffed, incense doused, and icons, crosses, and relics closeted (see On Weaponizing the Mass).

Worse, far worse, has been the neutering of childlike faith in vast portions of the Church such that, often today, anyone who displays any kind of real zeal or passion for Christ in their parishes, who stands out from the status quo, is often cast as suspect (if not cast out into the darkness). In some places, our parishes have gone from the Acts of the Apostles to the Inaction of the Apostates—we are limp, lukewarm, and devoid of mystery… a childlike faith. O God, save us from ourselves! Deliver us from the spirit of rationalism!  —from Rationalism and the Death of Mystery (Mark Mallett)