Peace and Truth

What happened in that tent when Pope St Leo the Great met with Attila the Hun?  That's a question which, I suppose will not be answered here, we'll have to wait until we meet St Leo in heaven.  More than likely he's up there today, the centre of attention, it being his feast day, and telling the gathered saints for the umpteenth time exactly what happened: "Well, he said to me...but I said to him....and that put him in his place..Isn't that right, Attila?"  "Yeahhh", comes the response.  Heaven will be great.

The collect of today's Mass asks the Lord that through the intercession of St Leo, that we will be kept "faithful to your truth and secure in your peace".  That sums up the pontificate of the holy Doctor we celebrate today.   Every one who has done theology knows (or should know of) Leo's Tome - his intervention in the Council of Chalcedon reiterating the orthodox teaching of the Church concerning the Incarnation and natures of Jesus Christ, in response to the decisions made by the "Robber Synod", the Second Council of Ephesus, which had embraced the heretical view that Christ had only one nature.  Now lest you think this is all mere history or theology, have a good look at the Church today and you will see that the very arguments and positions which tore the Church apart in the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries are doing the same today.  Plus ça change...  How often have I spoken to Catholics who do not believe Jesus was God, but a "good man" who was put to death because he rebelled against dogma?   Unfortunately many of our young here in Ireland veer in the same direction, if they know anything about Jesus at all.  But that's down to a failure in catechesis - something the Apostolic Visitators are going to have to put very high on their agenda.

And of course there is Leo's dealing with political figures on the international stage - ie Attila.  He struggled with secular authorities who were trying to muscle in on the Church and control her councils and teachings - a curse that we inherited from the interference of Constantine and which continued up to recent times when certain monarchs and governments even had vetoes over papal conclaves.  One thing that gets my goat (here he goes again - Father on a rant) is the whole thing of separation of Church and state.  Here in Ireland not one week passes but some atheist or secularist or politician is lecturing the Church on the need for separation from the state.  It is obvious, of course, that they actually don't mean separation of Church and state, but rather control of the Church by the state.  We have no problem with separation - we get on with our bit and the state gets on with its own, and if the relationship is normal, both can assist the other, with the Church fulfilling her mission of advising and looking after her flock undisturbed.  But the secularists do not see it that way - they want to control the Church, silence her, even banish her from the public square, unless of course they want to use the Church for their own ends, as we saw here in Ireland with the last referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.  When the Church says no to that little tyranny, they weep and wail and accuse the Church of interfering in politics. 

In Ireland we are moving somewhat towards control of the Church by the state, or at least desperate attempts at it.  The recent scandals have not helped, and it seems to me they have allowed the government to take control over some of the Church's activities in the interests of "child protection".  Now I have no problem with stringent child protection procedures - as Christians the last thing we should tolerate is child abuse and the first thing we do is deal with the offenders as quickly as possible - as we used to do before Canon Law was thrown out the window because it was not "pastoral" enough.  Secularists in Ireland have now seen a golden opportunity to dismantle the Church and her influence on modern society, and that is partly our own fault.  They are having a great deal of success. 

With the challenges that lie ahead, and the work that must be done, we certainly need the wisdom and assistance of St Leo the Great, hence the relevance of our collect this morning.  And that reminds us, we have to begin with prayer and with the truth of who Christ is.  Back to basics!