Quo Vadis?

Everyone interprets the world around them with a certain set of presuppositions. Most people are unaware of what their presuppositions are, but they definitly have them. If you see a furry four-legged animal barking, you will decide what it is based on a presupposition that you have already learned and/or experienced (most likely you will interpret it as being a dog). We all do this with everything in our lives, but we are so accustomed to how we do it that we do not even pay attention to the process.

Therefore, how do you interpret the present time? Jesus scolded the Jews of the first century for wrongly interpreting the times they were living in; we should take that to heart and seek to learn the right way to interpret our times. At the root of it, we Catholics are expected to interpret everything through the grid of the revelation of Christ through His Church. Whenever someone disagrees with the authoritative declarations of the Church he has failed to interpret the world around him properly.

There are two factors that we must keep in mind when we seek to understand the times we live in. The first is a doctrinal factor; the second is the method we use. When we interpret the present time, the primary theological point that we must keep in the forefront of our thinking is the Lordship of Christ; nothing else is as important as this.

The method, however, that we use is not as clearly seen (and rarely used by many today). If we look at the present time how do we view it? Our understanding of history will be the primary influence on our perspective here. Either a person views the past through the experience of the present, or he views the experience of the present through the past. The first places our present experience as authoritative (which is very subjective and self-serving); the second places our present experience under the authority of the past (which is to acknowledge that the past is settled and the present is still fluid).

If you read a statement in the gospels and interpret it based on your present experience, you are placing yourself as authoritative and your (still incomplete) experience as the guideline for the past (this is what those people do who wish to change the Church's doctrine and morals). If one does this, what happens when his present experience changes? What happens when he simply changes his mind about something? If, on the other hand, you read a statement in the gospels and use it as the guideline to interpret what you are experiencing right now, then you are (properly) submitting yourself to the specific events of the past.

Modernists always view the past through the present. Traditionals are supposed to view the present through the past (though they are not always consistent in it). In the current situation for our home country of America, we are at a crucial point in history. If we do what is right and stand for the truth of God, then our country may still be here in a century. If we do not, we may not still be a country in 10 years.

Viewing the present events in the way I have described is the only way for us to find hope for our country. We must see things through the grid of the fact of Christ's Lordship, and the understanding that what He has done to nations in the past is essential for us to know what to do in the future. Do not put your hope in men; do not put your hope in a majority of "conservative" politicians. Put your hope in Christ and His Kingdom, and let His divine providence guide us into the future.