The Catholic Experience

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Introduction and Special Announcement
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CA: This is actually a little funny. Welcome everybody to this brand new brand spanking new episode of the Catholic experience. I'm the Catholic Adventurer. Thank you very much for joining me. This is kind of a special day. Eh, special. I don't think many things are special, but I think other people might consider them special.

So I'll point it out. It's kind of a special day. This is my first official show as a YouTube content creator. What exactly does that mean? Not a whole lot. This is my first time that I'm just going to focus really on the YouTube platform. Um, if you're following my show, you already know the score. If you're not following my show, then you don't care about the history.

So I'm not going to bore you with it. Let's fade that music into the background. If this is your first time catching me. Hello and welcome. And thank you for joining me. I am the hardest working man in Catholic [00:01:00] podcasting, and it has been said more than once that I am the smartest person is known. My children tell me that, daddy, you're the smartest person I know, and that makes them the smartest people that I know that they said that.

Notre Dame's Reopening: A Prophetic Sign
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CA: Today I am talking about Notre Dame's reopening . I'm trying very hard. Not to call it Notre Dame's, restoration, because I'm not sure you can call it a restoration. It depends on what we're trying to get out of a re a restored church. Do you see where I'm going with this? What do we expect to get out of a restored church?

Church. Hmm. That's at the heart of what we're talking about today. And again, I thank you very much for joining me. Nobody in the live chat room on YouTube so far, which is totally okay. I don't feel jilted when there's no one showing up at my live shows. No one shows up, shows up at them. Usually, as long as you're catching this on demand throughout my [00:02:00] various distribution and carrier channels, iTunes, Spotify, and so on.

So let's get right into it. I'm going to try and share this. , with you so I'm gonna share this article with you. I'm gonna read a little bit bit of it. I'm not gonna read the whole thing to you, but I'm going to share my thoughts with you.

This is from Catholic News Agency, Pope Francis. Notre Dame reopening shows sadness and mourning give way to joy.

Written by A. C. Wimmer. As the iconic Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris reopened its doors five years after a devastating fire, Pope Francis, on Saturday, called the church's restoration a prophetic sign of the church's renewal in France.

A prophetic sign ~of the church's renewal in France. A prophetic sign ~of the church's renewal in France. Where am I going with this? Why am I repeating this again and again and again and again? ~I ran a poll on YouTube, you know, on the YouTube, um, Community posts thing And in that poll Pardon me folks.~

~You're just gonna have to be patient with this live broadcastness I see one of my cameras is underexposed. So I need to boost my light a little bit I don't know why that camera's doing that. ~I ran a poll on youtube, uh community thing And I asked do you think? [00:03:00] That the fire in Notre Dame was a sign. Now, I only ran that poll like a half an hour ago.

I don't expect anyone will see it so soon. Maybe not at all. It's not like I'm the most popular man on YouTube, but it's something to ask, I guess, yourself. Do we think that was a sign? I don't think God would send a sign like setting one of his churches on fire or letting a church go on fire. I don't think so.

But I think as rational human beings, we should see that as a sign of sorts. Why do I put that in quotes? Because I don't think it's a sign that was done, but I think it is something that happened that should promote or inspire deep and critical thought about what we saw there. We saw this, I'm calling it ancient, I don't, you wouldn't really literally call it ancient, but we saw this very old, ancient church engulfed in fire, [00:04:00] and then we watched it collapse, the spire.

We watched the spire collapse.

Again, I don't think God did it. I don't even think God let it happen. I don't think we could call this providence. But it should spark some careful and critical thought. Because what we saw in Notre Dame five years ago, As we watched it burn is what we are seeing happen to the church now. Don't Get yourself all twisted out of shape.

I'm not one of these folks who thinks, you know, the Catholic Church is in a state of crisis and disaster. I think the whole world is in a state of crisis and disaster and the church rises and falls with it and we can have a conversation about whether or not that's how the relationship should be. Yes, the church should do all of the rising and pull the world along with it, and we have seen that happen in history over 2, 000 years, but it doesn't always work out that way.[00:05:00]

Sometimes the church, the institution, the people gets sick. Sometimes it suffers alongside of the world. Sometimes it rises above the world. We, and again, we have seen both of those scenarios in church history. So as we saw this fire in Notre Dame, and as we saw the spires come crashing down over the sanctuary, I don't know, it's really visual poetry.

It's true visual poetry and visual rhetoric. And it should make us think, are we seeing this in the domestic church, our homes? Are we seeing it in the, the church of our hearts? Are we seeing this in our parish, parishes, diocese? Are we seeing this in the global church? If we're being honest with ourselves and with each other, yes, we are.

We're seeing the church in flames. We are witnessing segments of it, parts of it, [00:06:00] come crashing down. Right? What parts am I talking about? Catholic culture. Some people would say Catholic tradition. Has come tumbling down. I wouldn't, I wouldn't go that far. I wouldn't go that far. I have a completely different opinion from most people out here.

In the Catholic space, a different opinion about what tradition is. But I respect your opinion. I know where you're coming from. If that's your opinion, I don't agree with it, but I respect where it's coming from. I do. I truly do. So some people would say tradition. I would say culture, right? Some people would say orthodoxy.

Eh. I don't know if it's come crashing down in flames, but it's true, orthodoxy is under attack. It has been since the 70s, and orthodoxy has come under attack since the 70s because it was under attack. Really for at least a hundred more or more years [00:07:00] and we're just we just saw the fruits of it in the 70s the church goes through these cyclical I would say Periods where there's an attack on orthodoxy and then everything is gravy and then there's an attack on orthodoxy and everything is gravy We have seen this before it's not new.

Okay.

Modernism in the Church: A Critical Analysis
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CA: Yes, we're living through it again But I think in general we are living through a period in church history where we're watching the whole thing burn You But we will not watch it crash to the ground, or will we? We're going to talk about that.

Notre Dame has reopened, but is it restored? And I will say that about the church. The church is going through some shape shifting. But we are going to see a restoration of the church. We are going to see a restoration of the church. We're seeing it even now. If you're following me on TikTok at Catholic experience, you probably already smell what I'm cooking [00:08:00] because I dropped a video about that.

I also dropped a YouTube short, but it was really short. I dropped a longer version on TikTok about revival, renewal in the church. That's what we're gonna end with by the end of this episode. ~Again, thank you for joining me. If you're catching me live or on demand, Anywhere on social media or my various distribution channels.~

~I want to thank you for joining me This is the catholic experience podcast hosted by yours truly the catholic adventurer If you're not already doing so, please follow me on or subscribe to me on youtube At catholic adventurer and I thank you very much for your consideration So let's get back to this Let's get back to this article.~

~As the iconic cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris reopened its doors five years after a devastating fire, ~

Pope Francis on Saturday called the church's restoration a prophetic sign of the church's renewal in France. ~I hope that's true. I hope that's true. And I hope it's a prophecy or a prophetic sign that will crystallize and materialize Like, quickly, like, in my lifetime, and yours.~

~A prophetic sign of the Church's renewal in France. ~Something that I find very, very, very, very interesting about that comment is, for the Holy Father to say it's a prophetic sign of the Church's renewal, He's saying the quiet part out loud. He is saying that the Church in France is in need of renewal.

That the Church in France is suffering from a metaphorical fire. Otherwise, why would there need to be a prophetic sign of the Church's renewal?

CA: You feel me? ~In a message read by Archbishop Celestino Miligore, the Apostolic Nuncio to France, during Saturday's reopening ceremony, Pope Francis expressed his joy at joining in spirit and prayer with the faithful gathered for the historic occasion.~

The Pope recalled the terrible fire that severely damaged the cathedral in April of 2019, saying our hearts were heavy at the risk of seeing a [00:09:00] masterpiece, now get this. At the risk of seeing a masterpiece of Christian faith and architecture disappear. A millennial witness to your national history. Oh, it's a millennial witness to their national history, alright.

Because the church in France, now I'm not French, I don't live in France, I only know this from the outside looking in, or I observe this from the outside looking in, the church in France is in big trouble. In a second, I'm going to play a video for you and explain why. The church in, really the church in Europe is in big trouble.

I'm sure there are better and worse diocese throughout Europe, but the church in Europe is in big trouble. The people of Europe are in big trouble. Because the people of Europe have become very, very, very secularized. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which came first, a secularized church? Or secularized people?

I really don't know. That would be a fun thought experiment. Why don't you drop a comment, let me know what you think. Which came first, a secularized Catholic church? [00:10:00] I will say lower C church, because it's not the divine organism, it's the human institution of the church, you know? Which came first, a secularized church?

Or secularized people chicken or the egg. I really want to know what you think

i'm going to show you You've probably seen you probably saw on the thumbnail already this horrible horrible horrible Abomination of an altar that was part of notre dame's restoration oh, i'm also i'm also going to show you A beautiful job that I would never, ever do.

As much as I love the Blessed Virgin Mary, I would never, ever do this job. I'm going to show you that a little bit later on. That's more of a fun thing. Kind of has, there's some overlap to the topic, but there isn't really. Yeah, I don't have the picture handy. I'll probably throw it in when I edit this episode.

But it looks like a bowl. It looks like an empty bowl or a gigantic teacup, and it's the altar. [00:11:00] Let me tell you what Raymond Arroyo said. This is actually where I saw the picture of it.

Hit me with your best shot. Raymond Arroyo on Twitter, or on X, if you're not following me on X, you're extending your time, your time in purgatory after you die. I suggest you follow me on X at ForTheQueenBVM. No, Raymond Arroyo didn't say that. I'm saying that. From Raymond Arroyo on X, it has to be said, as beautiful as the restoration of Notre Dame is, I wouldn't say it's beautiful, but, the bowl shaped slab of an altar violates the grandeur of the cathedral.

It fixes a piece of 70s modernism as the centerpiece of the place. It looks like a mod. Outdoor picnic table, one that is already dated. I wanted to read that post to you because I could not [00:12:00] possibly word it any better myself. It fixes a piece of seventies modernism as they, as the centerpiece of the place.

It looks like a mod outdoor picnic table, one that is already dated. True. That is already dated. That look of that altar. I want to show you this whole video, but let me just get the part with the alter on first. Oh god, don't start with me with those vestments. That's what the altar looks like. Are you kidding?

this Really?

So you can see it for yourself if you're catching the video if you're catching the audio, I'm, sorry That's already dated, okay? In 1972, you might expect to find churches with a stupid looking altar like that. In 2024, it's way dated. I don't know who had the thought of putting that in the sanctuary at Notre Dame.

But it's very interesting what Raymond Arroyo says [00:13:00] here. It fixes a piece of, I'm, I'm going to reword it a little bit. It fixes a piece of modernism as the centerpiece of the church. That's how I'm, that's how I'm applying this. It fixes a piece of 70s modernism as the centerpiece of the place. Now, I don't throw this word modernism out there very Easily, very flippantly, very readily, very quickly.

Modernism is a specific thing. Not everything that is heterodox or on the line of heresy is technically modernism. Once you have gotten to modernism, that's already heresy. We can't call things that flirt with heresy, modernism. Because it's not that, it's not over the line yet. If it were, we would be calling it heresy.

We wouldn't have to just say modernism. Things that are heterodox are not modernism. It may be the [00:14:00] result of a modernized culture or a modernistic culture, but it is not modernism. I'm not one to throw that word around flippantly. I try to be very, very, um, accurate, precise with the language I use. So I'm going to use the word here very loosely.

Okay? Loosely. Loosely. Loosely. But hear what I'm saying. It fixes a piece of modernism as the centerpiece of the church. Again, I'm rewording it to my application of the point. Fixes a piece of modernism as the centerpiece of the church. And aren't we used to seeing that in the church? We're used to seeing that now, right?

We're used to that. To seeing Modernistic principles, modernistic secular culture affixed as the centerpiece of the Holy Catholic Church, the institution, and the Holy Catholic faith. But I have to tell you, it's turning [00:15:00] around, and it has been turning around for a little while. Okay, it has been turning around for a little while, and I, we can continue to see the turnaround.

Priests, young priests, newly ordained priests, are very orthodox, ~very traditionalistic. I don't like the word traditionalist. I don't like that word. All Catholics are traditionalists, if you're doing it right. To be Catholic is to be traditionalist, or to be traditional, okay? Enough said about that.~

~Young priests, new priests, uh, new members of the priesthood, ~are increasingly, um, more and more conservative, more and more leaning in the direction of orthodoxy and tradition and stuff like that. I don't want to say gone are the days of the ridiculous homily, because I know they exist, but in my experience, and in the experience of people that I have casual conversations with, It's not what it used to be.

Um, the crisis of bad homilies, loosey goosey, watery, watery homilies. It's not what it used to be. That has been changing. I have seen churches re renovated to look amazing. Churches [00:16:00] that were these old school, traditional looking churches, renovated to look like a 70s abomination, and 20, 30 years later, re renovated to look closer to its original design.

I've only seen that three times at three parishes in two different diocese, but that's pretty significant. Still, you're going to find someone Who wants to do this in a church like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. You're going to always find those. Someone who wants to inject a modernistic abomination, and I'm not talking about things.

I am also talking about ideas. You will always find some fool who wants to inject that right in the middle of the church. of the Holy Faith, right in the middle of the mystical body of Christ. There's always going to be one, and they are always going to lose. Now, unfortunately, [00:17:00] they're going to be stuck with this at Notre Dame for some time.

Nobody's, nobody's going to replace that altar. Nobody's going to replace that altar. Not for a good 5, 10, maybe even 20 years. Because of the optics of it. If I had the authority, I would replace that next week. Next week. It's gone. I don't care about optics. You can tell I'm a podcaster in front of a camera and I look like this.

So obviously I don't care about optics. If it were me, that'd be gone next week. So you're always going to have that. You're always going to have people who are stuck in the 70s, and they don't realize their time has passed. The modernism that we have seen growing in the church, and you may not understand, you may not realize this folks, or you might, but I have to tell you, the modernism that we always think of, or the modernistic ideas, modernistic styles, secularized [00:18:00] culture that has infected the church, that's really what I should say, really.

We always associate that with the 70s, but I'm telling you, it's been in the church long before the 70s, long before the 70s. In its infancy, its great infancy, not even infancy, you might have to say it was in its, in an embryonic stage, just after the French Revolution. And the seeds were planted during the Revo, Revelation, during the um, Reformation, not the Reformation.

The seeds were planted during the Enlightenment. It was in It's earliest stages of development, just after the French Revolution. So what we're seeing in these modernistic things in the Catholic culture and in the Catholic religion, these modernistic things that we're seeing, that we associate with the 70s, it's been there a long time, very long time.

~It just felt free and safe to come out to play after Vatican II. And Vatican II is not to blame for that, but that's not a conversation I'm going to have with you guys today. Okay? ~So there's always going to be someone, or someones, who swear it's still the 70s and who [00:19:00] swear, who fail to see that their time has passed.

And I want to tell you, those of you who are more of the, not conservative, I don't like that term, but the orthodox bent. You know, you follow the church, follow the doctrines, you have a spirituality, you have a healthy spirituality, you at least go to Mass every Sunday, or maybe you go to Mass also several times during the week.

I want to tell you, you may not see it, but I want you to look hard because what I'm about to tell you is the truth. That 70's era Catholicism, that time has passed. It is gone. There are some who are holding on to it. Exhibit A, Exhibit B, C, D, E, F, G. There are some who are holding on to it, but it is gone. It is gone.

I'm going to tell you in a second [00:20:00] why I think it's gone. I'm going to use the analogy of the fire at Notre Dame to explain it. But first, let's look a little bit at this video. Um, this was the, I guess, the re consecration of the altar. And I have to say also, folks, let's remember that this is still a consecrated altar on which the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist is, is, happens, happens.

So, hey, an altar is an altar is an altar is an altar. As long as it's liturgically valid and stuff, okay. It's still an altar. It's still the same holy Eucharist. As was consecrated on any altar in that same sanctuary over the past 900 years of that church's existence Okay, fine. It's still an altar. Okay, fine, but it is damn ugly

So just watching a little bit of uh Oh god [00:21:00] Pause for effect. Holy cow Holy cow Who even came up with this design? Who came up with this design and thought this is a really good idea for a 900 year old cathedral? I just don't know. Oh, I better turn off this audio or Facebook is gonna kick me where it really hurts.

Possibly even YouTube, but YouTube is a little bit less ferocious than Facebook. Anyway. Uh, I guess that's the relic. Don't know what relic they use. That looks like a reliquary, so probably that's a relic, and they're putting the relic in the altar. All right.

I just want to know Who said this was a good idea for vestments? Who told them that? That this was a good idea for vestments? Whose idea was [00:22:00] this? Was it the same five year old that designed that altar? What is this? I'm sure there's meaning behind it. If you ask someone in the know, they will probably say something ridiculous.

Like, well, it represents, you know, the multifaceted culture of France and the Catholic Church. They'd probably say something like that. Uh, they look like plates of stained What the hell is this guy in the background wearing? I don't know. Is that the French flag? No, French flag is blue, white, and red, right?

Well then what the hell is he wearing? I don't know. Is that Orville Redenbacher in the background? Hang on a second. What is this that they're wearing? And, can I say two? As a producer, can I say, this is a very stupid shot. Who came up with this shot? Let's, [00:23:00] mon dieu, let us put a camera over the altar and have it spin around.

Let's have the camera spin around. I mean, who came up with this? Pepe Le Pew? Because it really stinks. Oh, for Pete's sake. The only thing we're missing is Father James Martin. All right. I can't anymore. I can't. Somebody pass me a throw up bag, please. I can't. I just can't. Camera one, hurry up, camera one. All right, listen.

Just one more time. Okay, look. What, what, what is that? The vestments, what is that?

The End of the Loosey Goosey Era
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CA: There's always gonna be some fool who doesn't realize the loosey goosey era of what they think is the Catholic Church is gone. ~It's gone. You can hold on to it if you want. You can design it anyway. And ask priests to wear these completely ridiculous looking, uh, vestments. You can have an altar looking like a slab of marble garbage.~

~Okay, but I have to tell you, your time is gone. I'm just now being told there was no sound. I forgot to turn on the audio. Luckily, I'm recording an audio backup. So thank you, Chris. I think is the person's name. Thank you, Chris, for letting me know that. Holy cow. Wow. My big debut, not really on YouTube. And I forgot to turn my sound on.~

~Okay. If you catch this episode on demand, which it'll be available in the next day, maybe, um, there will be audio because I've been recording. Thank you, Jesus. An audio backup. So thank you, Chris, for letting me know. God bless you, my friend. The Holy Spirit sent Chris to save my life, that's what happened.~

~The Holy Spirit sent Chris and the Holy Spirit is like, tell him there is no sound on his live stream. Those of you catching this live, there will be full audio in the on demand version. I'm recording an audio backup. Okay, I'm sorry about that. I knew there was going to be something. I just knew. There's always one thing that when the stakes are high, or you're frazzled, or you're nervous for whatever reason, there's always one thing you forget, and I said, I know I'm forgetting one thing.~

~I forgot to turn the audio on the streamer. Okay. I forget the point that I was making when I, in that exchange, but it doesn't matter. I can come up with something. I can come up with a whole new point. So, ~the [00:24:00] time of the loosey goosey church is over. It is over. And there will be some who don't know that.

They're going to hold on to it for dear life. That's okay. That, that really is okay. Because eventually they will have no choice but to surrender. And that time is fast approaching. That time, we're really in that time. It's coming up. It's sprouting up from the soil very, very, very quickly. Folks, I know some of you may live in, in, in parishes or diocese where you don't see this yet.

It's Okay, I feel you and I feel your pain, but I am please take it from me that is coming very very fast very quickly So just be patient things are going to get normal again very very soon Except that there's going to be a little in this tug of war Between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, which is what we've seen over the past 50 years, I guess.

[00:25:00] And again, we've seen that cyclically in the church's history. In this tug of war, here's what usually happens. One side wins, and then it starts to win, and the next side pulls so hard that it goes in the other extreme direction. We're in that other extreme direction phase now. Not going to talk about that now.

In our lifetime, it's going to get back to the center. I believe it. Now, let's talk about the fire at Notre Dame real quick.

In the history of the church, there have been these periods. I mean, we've seen churches being destroyed, old churches destroyed. We've seen it in our lifetimes. We've seen it happen during periods in the church. And there's always something that we should take from, from those moments, from those periods.

Those periods of destruction in the church. Sometimes destruction is necessary before rebuilding [00:26:00] can happen. It is a very sad reality. That sometimes, sometimes destruction has to happen before any renewal can take place.

Very sad reality. And I wish it weren't so, but it is. Sometimes destruction has to happen first. That is true even in the church, and it is true in your life as a Catholic person. Sometimes destruction has to happen in order for renewal to take place. The thing that can get very, very dangerous is when destruction happens, it gives an opportunity for nonsense to take root.

Nature abhors a vacuum. We all know this, right?

The Importance of Catholic Culture
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CA: I have done shows extensively on the importance of Catholic culture, the importance of culture period, and then specifically Catholic culture. And, in those [00:27:00] episodes, I have said that when culture is removed, culture is necessary. It's necessary to the human being, to, to human, um, population.

It's necessary. American culture, I don't know, cultures in your family, cultures in your national heritage or ethnicity, Catholic culture, it's necessary. It's absolutely necessary, God built that need into us. And when culture is suppressed, subdued. Destroyed. Because it's necessary. I'm looking at the wrong camera here.

Because it's necessary and because we need it, there's an opportunity for a counterculture or a negative culture to take root. I'll give you an example. For whatever reason, God, literally God only knows why, someone [00:28:00] Thought it would be good a good idea to suppress Catholic culture. Yes, I am talking about the use of Latin in the liturgy I, I, I am, I attend the Novus Ordo Mass.

I'm okay that we speak English in the liturgy or we speak the Vulgate in the liturgy. But I feel like we've really pushed Latin out. There should be more Latin in the liturgy. I don't think people should have to say their prayers in Latin, but I really think we ought to teach prayers in Latin, not just in the local Vulgate.

That's part of our culture. It's part of our heritage, it's part of our custom as a people, as a Catholic people. Someone thought it was a good idea to have this seventies, modernistic, ridiculous art replace the cat, the classical art that people in my generation and older grew up with. [00:29:00] So we have seen this in the church.

Please do not blame Vatican II. It is not Vatican II's fault. You can say Vatican II played a role because it gave people a license to do, okay, maybe, maybe that's true, but it's not Vatican II, it's the people. Anyway, someone thought it was a good idea to suppress and reform Catholic culture, and what took root was a negative culture.

A culture where churches, and I have seen them, are built with little or no statuary. I have seen them. I know they exist. Please don't anyone tell me, There are no statuary. Oh, yes, there are. Or, churches where the stations of the cross are minimalistic, and, absolutely, you might as well have just used stick figures for the stations of the cross.

They're so minimalistic and stupid. Someone thought that was a good idea, so what took root Was a [00:30:00] negative culture that does not feed the human person. There's a reason why culture is important. Culture is an expression of the, an individual human person. And it's the expression of a collective of persons, right?

And it feeds that cult. It feeds the person and it feeds the collective. It's how truth and knowledge from a hundred years ago takes root in the person of A descendant a hundred years later. It's true in families, it's true in, in ethnic heritage and national cultures, it is true in the church.

It breaks my heart that, I don't know if my kids are lacking this, probably. The experiences I had growing up, looking at this amazing church art in the parish I grew up in, this [00:31:00] amazing, absolutely stunning building, and just, and I would be in awe looking at this, man. Mass after mass after mass. And I would, and I was doing this well into my adulthood, I would sit in the same pew where on my left is one stained glass window that always captivated me since my, I was very young.

And just on my right is the other one. So for many years, I would always sit in a pew where I could always look to the left and watch it for a little while and look to the left, to the right and watch the other one for a little while.

The generations that follow me, especially if you know, you have young kids, they may not have that experience. Being captivated by Catholic culture. They may not, in fact, they do not have the same response to Gregorian chant that you or I may have. I don't need Gregorian chant, but I love it.

I don't need it, but I love it. I have a response to it. I have a certain interior response [00:32:00] or a reaction to a church organ, organ hymns. Kids today don't have that.

Their culture, interiorly, in my opinion, starves because of the kind of world and in the kind of church culture, not the church, but the church culture that they're growing up in. Culture is very necessary. When you suppress it, when you subdue it, when you erase it, culture will continue to happen. But it will be a negative culture, because it will not be rooted in truth.

I'm not going to go through the whole rigmarole of explaining all of that. I think the names of those episodes were the importance of tradition and the trouble with it. With tradition, the importance of tradition and the trouble with tradition. I'm not talking, it's not an attack on traditionalists by the way.

So don't take more [00:33:00] from that title than you should, but it talks about tradition, traditionalism, why it's important, where it can be dangerous, specifically in the context of culture and the need for human beings to have culture and to, and to express culture. Those are really, really important episodes.

The trouble with tradition and the importance of tradition, I believe, were those two episodes. Um, you can go to my website, CatholicAdventurer. com, and search for those, and find them. Or you'll find them, I don't think they're on YouTube, I think, I mean, they're, I don't think they're on YouTube, they might be, but they're definitely on iTunes, Spotify, and everywhere else you find podcasts.

Look for the Catholic Experience Podcast on your favorite podcast carrier and search for those episodes when you find me. Or just go to my website, catholicadventurer. com, do a search for those episodes in the little search module there, you'll find them.

All right, this is running longer than I wanted to run it, so let me move this along, okay? [00:34:00] Next thing, oh, the job that I do not want to have. Maybe I'll just get to, get, get to that. We are seeing a return of things like statuary and like classical art. Some of it is like, so so, but. It's a good effort.

Here's an example of a good piece of Catholic art. And when I saw this, I was like, hell no, I'm not doing that job. This is a person, it looks like they're placing a crown of roses or some kind of flowers. On the top of this statue of the blessed Virgin Mary. Take a look.

I'm not afraid of heights, but we're not talking about heights here. This is you've climbed from the ground to the upper atmosphere. [00:35:00] I mean, I'm terrified just looking at it. I would absolutely not want this job. But how beautiful is this statue and how interesting is this guy's job right now?

I mean, which image is this? I guess it's our lady of grace. Our lady of grace. Pray for us. It looks like kind of a More modernized version of our lady of grace, but you'll notice in the statue. It's not the traditional depiction of our lady of grace But you see it. They didn't make it look ugly. Did they?

You It still looks like a beautiful old school statue, even though it may not be an old school statue. Or maybe it's an old school statue and they just used a different kind of design, whatever. But you see what I'm saying? You can bring something [00:36:00] into the modern time without making it look modernistic.

You can bring something into modern time without making it look modernistic. If your heart is in it, if your heart is in it and you intend to do that, when you intend to inject modernism into Catholicism, you have ruinovations, not renovations, of churches. You have modernized or modernistic statuary, iconography, when you intend to inject modernism into Catholicism.

When you intend to inject Catholicism into modernism, ah, now you have something completely different. You have something that is true. You have something that is beautiful. You have something that is truly good. Look at that.[00:37:00]

Yeah, I hope Facebook doesn't slap me across the chops for that audio. You wanna laugh? Facebook has been copyright striking my videos. Even videos that only feature my voice. No music in them at all.

So if you're catching this on Facebook, I'm telling you now, these are the last days of my streaming to Facebook. I am so Let me just keep my temper under control. These are your last days of seeing me posting video or audio on Facebook. So, get on with it, and follow me on YouTube, youtube. com, slash, uh, obviously, slash Catholic Adventurer, or at Catholic Adventurer, um, check me out.

Or go to my website, catholicadventurer. com.

Renewal and Restoration in the Church
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CA: So the lesson that we learned from all this, [00:38:00] I'm very happy that Notre Dame is reopened. I would not call that a restoration. I understand you can't, you know, for 900 years have a place looking exactly the same. I understand. I don't like for things to change.

When I go to, like, some kind of a museum of something that, you know, something that from the 1800s. Here's a bond from the 1800s. I want it to look like it looked in the 1800s. I like old things. I like old ness kind of thing. I'm very very nostalgic. I don't want old things messed with too much. Hardly at all.

I'm very nostalgic that way. But realistically, you know, you have a place that's, for instance, I'll give you another example. The church that I grew up in was a very very old church, like 1700s, late 1700s. It went through a fire, I think in the 1800s. And when they restored it, it was a true restoration.

They [00:39:00] made it look as close as possible to what it looked like before the fire. And I believe it still looks like that today. I don't like old things to change. But sometimes, things have to. Sometimes, the logistics of keeping them the same is impossible. And sometimes the effect of keeping them the same is not positive.

Sometimes things need to be brought into a new day. Okay. But you can do that without losing the spirit, the soul, the character of the thing that is being restored.

Have we lost the spirit or character? Or soul, I guess, of Notre Dame Cathedral, I, I don't, I don't know, uh, let me see if I can get this on the screen real quick. I mean, is it Notre [00:40:00] Dame? Okay, yeah, you know, the major structure is there and certain things are there, okay, but Did we lose the character, the soul, of Notre Dame Cathedral with that stupid looking, um, altar in the sanctuary?

I don't know. I guess not. I guess it's not enough of a change that we've degraded the place. But I'll tell you, we sure didn't respect it by putting that altar there. We sure didn't respect it. That's for sure. The same is true in the lived faith experience. And I'm telling you this, my friends, from experience.

I'll tell, I'll tell you something. In my own personal experience, my prayer life had to be destroyed before it could be renewed, and God raked me through coals and allowed my prayer life to be destroyed before he could rebuild it, before it could be renewed. And what my prayer life [00:41:00] was after it was renewed was a completely different prayer life, a completely different prayer life where the, my prayer was more intimate, more deep.

It wasn't as voluminous. But it was more powerful.

These things will happen in the lived faith experience, where God will allow some, uh, something in your faith to be set fire to. To collapse and burn. Maybe a little, maybe a lot. Maybe whatever it is in your faith that He allows to collapse and to burn. To burn and to collapse.

Maybe, Only 5 percent of what you once had remains. You know what that means? Only 5 percent of it was real. Maybe half of it remains. That means only half of it was real and half of it was, I don't know, fake, or [00:42:00] empty, or built on sand. These things will happen in the faith experience if you're living your faith right.

Well, if you're doing it right, you know, if you're trying and be, you know, it's important to be patient with the process. I said in a short video earlier today, ~ keep looking at the wrong damn camera. I'll tell you why. It's because this camera in front of me has a monitor screen on it. So I'm seeing myself on the monitor screen thinking that that's The camera that's live, but it's not.~

~It's that one. Stupid. Anyway,~

I talked about it in a short video earlier that we're looking for a revival, a renewal of the church. I think a lot of people are hoping and praying that that renewal means the church will look more like it did before Vatican II, 1940s, or even maybe in the 1800s. People, I think, are hoping, not all people, but a lot of people, I think, are hoping for a renewal that brings the church to look like that again.

I don't think that's going to happen. I can tell you for sure, God is renewing the church. [00:43:00] I don't want to say restoring, because that implies it was destroyed. And I don't think the church was destroyed. I don't think the faith is destroyed. But it is a need, desperate need of renewal, and God is working hard at it.

And here is what I think that renewal is going to look like, and I'm going to, and then I'm going to end it with that. We're looking for the Notre Dame effect. That something as close as possible, forget about that stupid looking altar. Something as close as possible, as close to what once was. Will rise from the ashes, right?

That's what we're looking for. We're looking for the Notre Dame effect that what, what, what, that what rises from the ashes will be almost exactly what existed before the fire, before the destruction, before the, whatever. I don't think it's going to happen. What I think is happening, what I see signs of, is [00:44:00] this.

I think God is building something completely new, beneath the ashes, beneath the rubble. Not different, not different, but new. Not different, but new. I think he's building this beneath the ashes, almost in concealment, but not really hidden. You will see signs of it if you're looking. But I do feel like there's an aspect of concealment, that he's building something new, that's Beneath the ashes, beneath the rubble, something new that will rise, that will emerge, quite by surprise.

And it'll take the whole world by, by surprise. It'll even take faithful Catholics by surprise. And you'll think, wow, I had no idea you were building that. What do I think it'll look like? I think it'll look like the early church. I think it'll look like how the faithful were in the early church. People love people in the church love talking about [00:45:00] politics today. Used to be people in the church love talking about theology and philosophy. That was their bag. Now Catholics love talking about politics.

So I think it'll be things like that, like socially and culturally. Catholics will return to how we were in the early church. I think the church will return to its roots of evangelization It may be hard to believe but please believe me when I tell you I am seeing that that the church on diocesan levels Is returning to its evangelization roots.

It's in its early stages But it's there it's there the roots are there the sprouting is occurring I think the church is going to return to a more early church period in in its size And in its strength where the faith is no longer A character in a storybook, [00:46:00] and I'm not saying that that's the case for everybody, so don't be offended by that.

But for many people, on the left and on the right, the faith is really a character in a storybook, that they've convinced themselves is a real person. I think where the church is going, what's being built under the ashes and rubble, is a church where the people remember that the faith is alive, that the church is our mother.

That Jesus Christ is not just a real person, but he's the realest person that ever lived, and there's meaning behind that. There's meaning to that understanding. It's a meaningfulness that the early church, the Catholics of the early church, had that I think most of us have lost. That's what I think God is building beneath the ashes and rubble.

And what's going to I'll go back to Notre Dame to make this closing point. Notre Dame used to be darker than this. I kind of like dark. I kind of like that. I don't [00:47:00] like bright I don't like this temperature lighting. This looks like it's outdoor balanced the lighting in the church. I like more amber So the lighting and the color temperature in notre dame has changed.

I don't like it, but that's subjective That's not an objective thing. It's a subjective thing, but I think what you're going to see It is a church that looks just like what it's supposed to look like, but it's brighter, it's stronger, it's more piercing, and it will be ready for the final battle between good and evil.

Brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, it is happening all around you. It is happening all around you. You just have to look. It's not happening like thunder. It is happening like whispers. But that is exactly how God operates. Have faith, trust, and believe. [00:48:00] Hit that like button and turn on alerts if you enjoyed this.

Ooh, I hate those words.

I really hate those words. Oop, wrong, wrong song. I really hate those words. But, hit that like button and turn on alerts if you liked this. Please do me that solid. Um, and I hope to see you on the Rubicon. Listen, I have got a couple of shows planned. One of them will be long form and a couple will be short form.

I've got a couple of shows planned that if they pan out as I'm planning for them to, they're really going to, they're really going to shock you. They're really going to make you go, what? Until you watch them, until you watch them, then you're going to be like, Oh, it's all falling into place. Now I got some great stuff planned, [00:49:00] great stuff in store.

If you're not subscribing to me on YouTube, boy, are you going to miss a lot? I've been the Catholic adventurer. This has been the Catholic experience. God bless you, my brothers and sisters. Stay faithful. Stay strong. Have hope. And don't let the devil rob you of your peace. God bless you. God be with you.

Bye bye.