Father Montoya’s Homily
March 1, 1860
My brothers and sisters, the Church and our very way of life are under attack from liberals trying to separate Church from state. May I remind you of the benefits that the Catholic Church has given to the people of Mexico? The free education that you all have received, the welfare that we have given to you and not to mention your salvation! In fact, the Church is where you start your life (baptism) and end your life (burial in church cemetery), not to mention that the church is where we hold town meetings, get married, celebrate quincen verily this church is the foundation of our life! Of course there are some dues that must be paid to make all this happen, but I assure you, we- the priesthood- are concerned with every one of yours well being, and we work and pray for you, each and every day.
Where would we be as a nation without education? Without the Catholic Church intervening how else can everybody have an education that teaches not only reading and mathematics but eternal salvation as well. I feel as though without the word of the Lord the people of Mexico could end up being doomed to a life of sin. With the Prosperity that is brought for the learning from the Bible comes a code of ethics to live by. These lessons that we teach in the church are more than just stories since these ethics can also help the well being of our community as well.
The liberal view of the Catholic Church goes as follows, “we strongly distrusted the traditional sources of authority, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, which they thought was infested by ignorant thoughts, superstition, and empty rituals” (pg. 84). I found this to be preposterous since the goal of the Catholic Church is to enlighten the people of the spiritual world ahead of them and how being a morally good person can help you get to this wonderful place. And these rituals that are so called “empty” bring about a feeling of fullness of Faith! We, the People, do not see anything wrong that can come out of a religion being a part of everyone’s life, especially since it has the power to end any kind of corruption or evil that may occur in a lifetime.
These so-called Liberals are a threat to our society. We must hold our ground and continue being the church and people we are. We have been living good lives in God’s world. Why should we have to change our traditions and cultures? If we allow them to do what they want with our nation we are being ignorant. This progress that liberals want is a threat to what our society already has: God, family, education, and land. I was outside a few days ago, and I saw something that made me think about how our nation will change if we permit them to do so. Mexican citizens were walking around threatening our clergymen. They were announcing this idea of anticlericalism: that we are preventing them from what they think is important, progress (pg. 89). How can this be so when we have been the ones to hold the nation together in the past? As a church we have always been able to lead the nation.
The Constitution passed in 1857 had the audacity to ban the teaching of dogma. I believe that this kind of separation of Church and state is a terrible move for our country. The dogma of our Catholic faith is infallible and it is superior to any worldly influence. The failure to teach this dogma may deprive everyone of the core principles that they teach us. These beliefs are an important way to bring us closer to god. In fact, our Holy Father Pope Pius IX has “specifically condemned lay education and the idea that state schools should be freed from ecclesiastical authority.”
As a Priest of the Lord I have been having much trouble with these liberals, especially the radical ones. If these people continue to boycott our church it will continue to drive people away. I do not understand why we are ignoring our creator, The Almighty. Since he has done so much for use I believe it is equivalent to a slap in the face for our country as a whole to ban the teachings of the lord in this manner. The knowledge that can be interpreted from the Holy Bible is should be considered and withheld as the most important document we are lucky enough to be blessed with, any anyone who opposes this is turning their back on the Lord.
Even more than the Holy Bible is our leader: the leader of the Roman Catholic World, the Pope. Holy Father Pope Pius IX is a very knowledgeable, righteous man. I think we would all agree that he knows what is best for us as Catholics and as a nation. With that being said, he condemns liberalism and secularism. For example, he believes that public schools are best left to not be taught by lay people. We must consider what he is saying. Pope Pius IX was elected on our behalf for a reason. He is a symbol for what is best for this country and for the world, which is not secularism.
With all that I have said today, let us go home and think about what direction we would like our country to go in. God has given us this beautiful earth. We cannot just ignore what he has supplied us with and the direction he has led us in. Without him we are nothing. We must think about this and realize that what the liberals are fighting for could possibly have a negative effect on our country. I thank every one of you for coming today to be part of this ceremony and to see God. Do not just go home and forget about what we talked about, but rather live God’s scripture.
by Jacob Clay, Hannah Kass-Aten, Lyle Hunt, Claire Keogh, Matt Hillard, Mike Calafiroe, and James Mcnair.
Response to the homily of Father Montoya, Brazil, 1860.
ReplyDeleteThe church and state have been ajoined too long in education. To separate the two for the cause of education is simply to keep each from discouraging the other. The church is too busy invested in it's own interests abroad. As it does so, the church is losing the resources needed to further our massive educational needs. Finally the church can continue to exist outside of education, serving the needs of the community. The church needs to be separated from education for the good of our national identity.
For one, to think Pope Pius will stop burying his nose in dogma to read into the grievances of the Brazilian people is hopeful at best. Pope Pius is concerned with gouding patronage out of papal states throughout the globe. Indeed, religion-reliant education will soon be diminished from the strain of stretching financial resources to missions abroad (94). The pope's missionary states take priority, where new souls can be converted and saved. What is faith if it is always second to those who have none? The people who regulate us within the church are thousands of miles away in Europe, the very continent that overtaxed, overworked and squandered our resources until we were hardly a shard of our own nation. To separate ourselves from the church would allow us to explore our national identity far fromt eh demands and neglects of the Church.
Furthermore, why should we not ignore the teachings of the church when the church ignores us? It's no mystery that the papacy pays to have self-promoting content published in the media (97). Instead of using our patrongage on our education, the Papacy is sqandering money doesn't have on petty self promotion. Why do we need to wait for the church to suppliment our education when it's too busy preaching to the choir?
The church can still exist outside the context of education. Jesus continues to inspire the majority of our population (90). The church will continue to exist outside of education. The meetings and the spirtiual salvation offered within the church will always be meaningful. There is no mark saying that separating the church from the state is to keep the church from existing at all. The church can focus time and energy not expended by education on serving the social justice needs of our community. The church must exist outside of education. It gives us meaning, and gives us all something to look forward to outside the dirt of a decaying world.
However, to chain ourselves to the education of the church is to slowly strip outrselves of the national pride we have worked so hard to gain. These are the facts of our educational system today, and this is why it needs to be changed.