"With Padre Pio's relics visiting Rome for the Year of Mercy we're reminded of his amazing biography and how infused his whole life was with the miraculous. . . .
"The one thing which is most devastating for the Catholic faith is modernism. Modernism is like a watery soup full of various unappetizing and inedible bits floating round in it, but the bottom line is that modernism is religion without the supernatural. It is a form of faux Christianity that has reduced Christ's sacrifice to martyrdom, his miracles to inspiring stories and his resurrection to a myth.
"If religion isn't supernatural then it's not really religion. As a plain speaking Australian once said about liberal Protestantism, 'That’s not a religion mate. That’s a set of table manners.'
"The same can be said about modernism in Catholicism.
"Chesterton said 'Every age is converted by the saint who is most
unlike it.' Therefore one of the best saints to counter modernism is
Padre Pio who was a thoroughgoing supernaturalist. Padre Pio's life was a
constant witness to the reality of heaven and hell and the need to view
this life as a pilgrimage to our heavenly home.
"Lent is the time to renew our awareness of the spiritual battle . . . .
In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on several quotations from Padre Pio through which Padre Pio offered insights on a number of spiritua truths.
To access Fr. Longenecker’s complete post, please visit:
Standing on my Head: Ten Lessons from Padre Pio for Lent (9 FEB 16)
Background information:
Dwight Longenecker - Catholic priest and author
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