A few weeks ago, I was praying with the Scripture, John 2:1-10, the Wedding Feast at Cana. A line stood out; it struck me as if I had never read it before. Taking this as an inspiration from the Holy Spirit, I sat with the verse for quite a while.

To have a better understanding of why this hit so hard, I need to back up and give some context.

During Advent 2023, I gave up listening to my regular podcasters and YouTubers. Most of them offer Catholic commentary, but I balance that out with travel channels or court reporting (I’m totally fascinated).

This self-imposed sanction didn’t last beyond Christmas day. The internet began, once again, to suck my soul.

Lately, and I mean really, for the past year or two, Catholic content creators have been reporting on the goings-on in Rome with a critical eye (not unwarranted).

Each morning, after coffee & prayer, I’d pick up my cellphone and go down the rabbit hole of ecclesial gossip. After a morning of listening to different shows, I found myself dipping into desolation.

Why?

• The Amazon Synod,
• Pachamama,
• “Traditionis Custodes,”
• The Synod on the Synod on the Synod on the…,
• “Fiducia Supplicans,”
• and to top it off the resurrection of the pornographic book, “Mystical Passion,” which was incidentally written by the author of “Fiducia Supplicans,” Cardinal Fernandez.

We’ve gone from bad to worse (some may say heresy and sacrilege) in a very short and subtle period of time.

My beloved Catholic Church appears to be, almost systematically, torn apart at the seams. I’m sure there will be some, probably many, who might think otherwise. The ones cheering on Pope Francis and his leadership bringing the Church into the modern world.

What was once black & white doctrine is now ambiguous and lukewarm decree and opinion. Sadly, many people seem to be quite content.

This reminds me of how one can place a frog in a pot of water and very slowly bring it to boil. The frog is absolutely unaware of his most precarious situation. Within minutes, he becomes someone’s appetizer.

I think there are some people in the hierarchy who turned on the stove a long time ago, hoping the faithful wouldn’t notice.

It’s only by sure grace and the vigilant posture of many that we’ve jumped out of the pot and are now trying to figure out who turned on the stove in the first place… and how to turn it off. Sadly, many will refuse to leave the pot only to suffer the fate of the frog.

This brings me back to the line in Sacred Scripture that I prayed with:

The headwaiter said to the bridegroom, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

John 2:10

This line is in reference to Mary’s observation that they had run out of wine with several days of the wedding feast still to come. Mary tells Jesus, who then tells the servers to take large jars and fill them with water. He miraculously turns the water into wine and instructs the servers to take a sample to the wine steward (head waiter).

It is then that we are privy to the statement about the good wine being served before the guests are too drunk to know the difference – when they swap it for cheap, inferior wine.

I think we can apply this same concept to what may be going on in the Church today.

Have we become so lax, so apathetic, so blind that we are drunk and now being served inferior teaching?

Just as Christ brings only the best wine, so too should the Church, the bride of Christ, bring us, the guests at the wedding feast, only the best teaching. Not something inferior, ambiguous, vague, and possibly heretical because they think us drunk and naïve.

Such a thought brings a sadness to my heart… that a progressive movement and those pushing an agenda might possibly prey upon the morally weak, the ill-informed, and those mired in sin, by the very people meant to bring healing and keep them spiritually safe. (Of course this doesn’t apply to all clerics in leadership positions.)

For if Jesus Christ brings only the best wine, we should expect His Vicar on earth to bring the best doctrine, the clearest teaching, the sweetest truth. But no, the hierarchy appears to have run out.

Instead of going to Jesus, they pridefully serve what is inferior, hoping we won’t notice because we’re intoxicated by worldly, watered-down offerings.

Obviously, this is just one Jane-in-the-pew’s opinion. But…

For those of you who aren’t quite buzzed yet, watch your drink so it doesn’t get spiked.

Between the time that I prayed with this scripture verse and actually wrote this post, the Holy Spirit placed another inspiration on my heart: to pray a daily “Memorare” with the specific intention of covering the next holy pope with the Blood of Christ, preserving him from all evil, filling him with an abundance of truth and courage, and keeping him wrapped in Mary’s mantle for protection and care. You are welcome to join me in this daily prayer.

Pray for me as I pray for you!