the acorn

 Robert Royal, best known as a commenter in EWTN's Papal Posse, on the Catholic Thing discusses the idea that everything is falling apart, and the worry that many Catholic have right now that the anti Pope faction will take over the church at the next conclave and make the church into an NGO to serve the NWO/Reset of the puppet masters and destroy the holiness aspect of the church, morphing it into activism as the reason to be.

 note: I am an ex missionary and support this activism, but it ignores that people serve God in the mundane duties of their daily lives and that all of us, even those who work in the trenches need the nourishment of God's grace.

By making the church into a mere NGO to do good stuff results in a church that starves the soul by removing the sacraments and idea of holiness that give us the strength to do this work in the face of seeing hardships and tragedies every day

It is like removing sex out of marriage: Yes, marriage needs work and cooperation, but without the spark of love, it is a barren thing without roots. 

This futurechurch was (ironically) foretold in Brian Moore's TV film Catholics where the liberation theology priest has orders to shut down a small monastery celebrating the Latin mass.

Wikipedia summary. Hmm... sounds like what Francis was tiptoeing and letting his minions do but not quite destroying the church. But lots of believing Catholics worry that the next Pope will not be so timid...

But then Royal reminds us:

Because freedom with fidelity, justice tempered by mercy, and above all truth may seem to have perished under the cold snows of sin and evil, but they never die. They’re at worst in hibernation until circumstances and our efforts enable them to put forth green shoots and produce their proper fruits once again.

If we truly believe that the Lord of Creation is also the Lord of History – a sacred history that the world does not acknowledge but has, nevertheless changed everything – then the current crisis takes on a different appearance....*(it is) the spirit of hope we must maintain in the coming days – a supreme confidence in the seed beneath the snow – and let Divine Providence take care of the rest.

this reminded me of this scene that was not included in the final cut of the Hobbit: and ironically is not in Tolkien but is pure Peter Jackson: That the acorn carried by Bilbo is a sign of hope for the future.

but it is, of course, an example of Tolkien's theme of hope: not the hope of short term success, but the hope that in the long run good will prevail. As this Tolkienology essay insists:

Estel... is hope without evidence. It’s rooted not in optimism, but in trust—trust in the goodness that is deeper than the shadow. 

Estel says, even if everything fails, I still believe there is meaning. I still choose to walk....

Estel does not mean “I know it will get better.” It means: I will walk anyway. Even here. Even now. Even in the ruins.

This is not about ignoring the darkness. It’s about refusing to let it define you.