The Best in Catholic Memes: February 2020

Reading Time: 5 minutes

by Nick Jones, Meme Marshal

It’s Lent, there’s a virus afoot, and it’s the dog days of the semester for us college students. We might be tempted to think that we’re not allowed to have fun right now. Luckily, I’ve got you covered. Please enjoy these memes, and my musings on them. Keep chugging; it’s almost Easter!

m1Credit: Catechesis Memes, on Facebook

Selective reading of Scripture has got to be one of the worst problems of contemporary, secularized Christianity. In a post-truth world, judging actions spits in the face of popular relativism. But, as Catholics, we know that Truth is real and that Truth is Jesus Christ. While Our Lord cautions against judging the state of others’ souls, and while He reminds us to judge ourselves first, there is still an unavoidable commandment to call out evil where we see it. If we truly love the Lord, then we must keep all His commandments, including those which compel us to correct injustice and root out sin which we encounter in the world.

m2Credit: SpongeBob memes with Catholic themes, on Facebook

This one could just as easily be about any faithful Catholic. The fact of the matter is that it isn’t easy to be a faithful Catholic these days. We often see bishops who are more concerned with “Social Justice” than the salvation of souls. We often see priests who act like Mass is their least important priority. What are we to do? Pray. Fast. Give alms. Hold fast. Hurry up and wait. Be the change you want to be. The Church has been through worse, and she WILL overcome any crisis. Christ, her Spouse, has promised such, and He has already overcome the world.

m3Credit: Catechesis Memes, on Facebook

Our Lord left a Church, not a Bible. He entrusted the orthodox transmission of the Faith to His apostles, and thus to all the bishops today. Both Scripture and Tradition gain their binding force from the Magisterium which interprets and applies the dogma they contain. Any appeal to Scripture or to Tradition is ultimately an appeal to the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, the only Church endowed by God with indefectibility.

 

m4Credit: SpongeBob memes with Catholic themes, on Facebook

Myth: It’s just a venial sin, it can’t hurt that bad.

FACT: All sin wounds our souls, injuring our relationship with the Lord and making it more likely for us to fall into Mortal Sin.

Sin: Not even once.

Let’s all try to make more than one good Confession his Lent.

 

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Credit: Catholic Connect, on Instagram

We can always fly to the patronage of Our Immaculate Mother to seek refuge from the snares of the Devil, the world, and our own flesh. We can always rely on her and the Heavenly cohort she rules to fight the battles we’re too weak to fight for ourselves. How great is our God for choosing to give us such a loving, Blessed Mother to imitate.

 

m6Credit: Bishop Richard Umbers, on Facebook

It’s useful to think of our obligations to God not as unfair impositions from a cruel taskmaster but rather as favors we pay to Someone we love. Everything changes when we adjust our frame of reference in this manner. What child wouldn’t try to please his parents. What husband wouldn’t try to honor his wife’s request? Who would say no when a friend needs help? If we can do this for mere creatures, why can’t we forgo our desires to better love and serve God?

m7Credit: Literally everyone, started on Twitter

Obviously it’s important to prevent both disease and desecration of the Eucharist. But it is a bit telling when we almost never hear about proper dispositions for receiving the Eucharist when there isn’t a pandemic. In theory the guidelines are published in every missalette and every Catholic knows them. In practice, however, who knows the last time people had this preached to them? To review, the bare minimum to receive the Eucharist worthily is to be free from Mortal Sin and to fast from all food and drink, except water, for one hour. (Also, hands are much dirtier than tongues.)

 

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Credit: Lit Catholic Memes, on Instagram

Augustine tells us that to seek God is the greatest adventure. How could we resist a life so tantalizing as the PARTY suggested above? In all seriousness, each of those suggestions seem to form a healthy spirituality. We should try to get to the point of offering every action of her day as an act of adoration. Sex is sacred and only reaches its full effect it in the marital bond. The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our life of Faith. How can we say we love Jesus if we never talked about Him?  That last point is good too! Haven’t you even read Matthew 10:27?!

 

m9Credit: Lit Catholic Memes, on Instagram

Again, let’s think about our priorities. Obviously everyone’s spiritual life is different. No one thing is going to work the same for all people. Virtue is always the mean of two vices. But if we are trying to be adult, mature Catholics, and all we do for Lent is give up something that might already benefit us in terms of diet, where’s the sacrifice?  Our Lord commands us, and talks about when, not if, we fast and pray and give alms. For a fruitful Lent and spiritual life, we need to be doing all three with great regularity, at meaningful personal cost, without counting the cost.

lastCredit: Catholic Memes, on Facebook

Got a theology question? I bet the Angelic Doctor knows the answer.  Aquinas succinctly proved in each of his Five Ways the necessity of God’s existence, without appealing to revelation. Anyone who claims otherwise is either underinformed or in denial, or both! There’s too much to say about each of the Ways, but you should definitely do some research into each of them. Realistically, they have much more to do with philosophy than with theology, by design. Aquinas was out to prove the necessity of some sort of origin for all creation, not the Christian God. To the Christian, however, the fact that the necessity of God’s existence is so abundantly clear should only strengthen our Faith.

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