In this short post the only point I wish to make has to do with proper reverence and esteem that should be given to certain personages. This is something that seems to be lost on our new, more relaxed, and egalitarian construct of society. For my examples I would like to address three which I think might bring my point home.
For my construct let us take on the birth name of a fictional character known as Robert Miller.
If Robert Miller becomes a doctor of medicine and we have the proper reverence for his unselfish service to provide us with healthcare and life saving practices one would be rather bold to address the man as Dr. Bob. He deserves more respect, more esteem and a sense of reverence for his sacrifices and his service to the community. The proper way to address him is Dr. Miller.
And if Robert Miller becomes a Lieutenant in the Marines and is risking his life to procure and safeguard the country and my own freedoms, likewise one would never refer to him as Lt. Bob but as Lieutenant Miller.
Most of us understand this protocol at some level or at least we did in our recent past. I was raised to do this; just as I was raised to say Mr. or Mrs. when addressing an older married man or woman.
I find it incredible that today in the Catholic Church that we feign such familiarity with our priests. For if Robert Miller is ordained a Catholic Priest today he is most likely to be addressed as Fr. Bob. Now here is a man that is our spiritual father and is serving God and his flock. This seems to be the result of the breakdown of all civility and norms that occurred during the mid-60’s in our country. that prevails today.
We previously were not to look at him as just a pal and another man or friend. He was more than that. The common thread to the respect that civil people employed in the past was simply the fact that a Doctor served the community and the health of each of us while the Military man served his country and protected our lives, liberty and freedom. But higher than this, the Priest who serves God and his flock in an effort to bring us safely to heaven and to avoid hell should obviously deserve more reverence and respect: as the aim of his ministry has eternal consequences to our souls. It is not, as in the other two instances a temporal end that is being sought for our well-being.
Please God that we once again respect the high-calling of the priest and see in him as our alter Christus acting in persona Christi during the sacraments of Confession and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Maybe then, we will quit treating him as just another member of the congregation that dresses funny (hopefully in his clericals and cassock).
All Along the Watchtower 
It’s a loss in an understanding of reverence and respect. I’m an Eagle Scout and I gave an Eagle Charge for a family friend this year. I had pretty much said my good-byes to scouting after the past several years, but due to family ties, I decided to give the Charge on their behalf.
So, I wrote the charge by interweaving the Scout Law and the definitions of each part with Christian Moral Virtues. At the end of the charge, I got to reference, something that I knew that might be more or less lost on a building full of people. I said,
“My wife will tell you when it comes to my favorite Old Testament book, it would be Exodus. Exodus is nothing short of an epic where God reveals himself to Moses and charges him to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt. God chose to appear to Moses in a burning bush not consumed by the flames. Moses is drawn toward the bush, a voice cries out, “take off your sandals, for you are on holy ground. To be reverent, we must be reminded that there is sacredness that is beyond ourselves, an eternal mystery.
So, I ask, everyone here close your eyes and think back to a time when you were around the age of six. Now, think of a time when you were thirteen. And finally, think of something that happened yesterday. Your memory has spanned a few or several decades in a matter of seconds because your memory bears a likeness to the eternal because it has been fashioned in its image–“take off your sandals for you are on holy ground.”
(The memory part I took from St. Bonaventure…)
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Very good, Phillip. I like it.
Reverence and pietas is actually what had me thinking about this simple act of civility that we lost as I reread the Triumph Magazine article by Dietrich von Hildebrand. There is a copy of it here: http://www.traditionalcatholicpriest.com/2013/02/16/dietrich-von-hildebrand-on-the-holy-latin-mass-vs-new-mass/
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I would add to this interesting post the loss of respect for fathers in general, which is an assault on God the Father Himself. This comes from the rebellion of spirits and humans against God’s authority, justice, and benevolence. Our sin natures, wishing to hide our accountability, and destroy the doctrine of the Day of Judgment, must attack the earthly symbol of authority, the Father. (Granted, Christ is actually the Judge of Mankind (see John’s Gospel), but it is the Father who is the source of this authority: He entrusts His authority to Christ in recognition of the Incarnation and crucifixion).
This assault has come on various fronts (including within the visible Church). Feminism is one of the means by which fatherhood has been attacked, but youth culture is another, as is the general economic decline of the West, which makes it hard for families to get started (see also the treatment of fathers in family courts and the explosion of abortion since Roe v Wade and the UK abortion Acts).
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Yes there are many examples of this lost civility that was present in our culture back in the 50’s. It seems like the revolution against our parents began in the 60’s and never really ended. They say every generation rebels against the one before but there is some things about that rebellion that still has legs.
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True to his cause, good brother scoop puts up an image of a catholic Jesus. Thats why god vehemently was so much against using images. they give wrong impressions if used to give a certain bias. and, god doesnt want any man made objects used in worship of him. He makes this perfectly clear.
Look at the image good brother put up. the subject has a roman pagan sign of deity, the halo, around its head. The subject is holding a gold, supposedly, cup in his hand and what appears to be the catholic wafer in the other. The height of blasphemy. Catholics lap it up.
Its false advertising. Reminds me of those Pepsi ads showing Michael Jackson holding a can of Pepsi and dancing around with it. Michael jackson didnt drink soda, he said it was bad for him.
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