The Force and Supernatural Faith
On this blog, I have emphasized as a major point, the necessity of the presence of "supernatural faith" to be a real Christian. And I have argued that for the vast majority of our clergy, they are sorely lacking in this "supernatural faith" that is essential for the Christian life. And if they don't believe, how does that affect the sacraments they exercise for our benefit? How does that affect the Mass that they conduct and what they allow during the liturgy?
To me, this is of the highest priority for the current and future of the Church.
But I want to reference something that I think everyone can appreciate -- Star Wars.
As a Gen Xer, I grew up with Star Wars and I have been a big fan my whole life. And I obviously saw the latest movie on opening day a few days ago and thought that they did a good job, post-GL (George Lucas). But if we take a look at that universe, the characters and the movement of the plot, I think it will be good illustration of my position.
There are only a few Jedi and a few Sith - the only significant users of the Force in this galaxy. They have direct knowledge of the Force and never challenge the presence of it, what it can do and the necessity of using it. Likewise, you never hear from anyone how angels and demons question whether God exists. They know from their creation that God exists and what they have been endowed with by that God.
Then you have some in the galaxy who know Jedi or Sith and have respect for something that they can't really know or explain. But they accept that it is there and that there is some intelligence behind it.
And then you have those who completely ignore its presence. Think back to Han Solo at the beginning of the first movie in 1977. He eventually comes around, but when we first meet him, he has no faith in the Force.
In our world, the first group are the angels, demons, saints (and to a lesser degree satanists.) They all agree that God exists, that He is 3 equal parts in 1, that He is present in the Eucharist and that he has established certain rules that govern the universe.
The second group, hopefully, is composed mostly of people like me and you. We believe that God is all those things listed above, but we have to take it on faith. We can't KNOW these things like the first group can.
And the last group is, unfortunately, the vast majority of the world. They don't know, they don't have faith, and they don't care.
Now look at the events of the 7 movies in the Star Wars universe. The ones that make a difference, that move the plot along, that changed the course of history, are the ones that either KNEW the Truth or those that had FAITH in the Truth. The rest fall back into their own imaginations and self-centered lives. But for Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Padme Amidala, Emperor Palpatine, Count Dooku, Leia Organa, and Han Solo their knowledge of faith of the Truth led them to actions that changed the course of the galaxy one way or another.
In the post-Vatican II years, for many Generation Xers, we looked elsewhere for supernatural understanding because the Church abandoned its divine right. One place we went to was science fiction/fantasy. Things like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings replaced the catechism in helping us understand that there was something greater than us that it is in our lives constantly. For the lucky ones, we looked for and found the elements of that supernatural faith in the Church and came back and are ardent believers. But many of us have been lost because of what the Church decided to do.
But even here, in the story of Anakin Skywalker, there is a lesson.
Even those who are lost can be found again.
To me, this is of the highest priority for the current and future of the Church.
But I want to reference something that I think everyone can appreciate -- Star Wars.
As a Gen Xer, I grew up with Star Wars and I have been a big fan my whole life. And I obviously saw the latest movie on opening day a few days ago and thought that they did a good job, post-GL (George Lucas). But if we take a look at that universe, the characters and the movement of the plot, I think it will be good illustration of my position.
There are only a few Jedi and a few Sith - the only significant users of the Force in this galaxy. They have direct knowledge of the Force and never challenge the presence of it, what it can do and the necessity of using it. Likewise, you never hear from anyone how angels and demons question whether God exists. They know from their creation that God exists and what they have been endowed with by that God.
Then you have some in the galaxy who know Jedi or Sith and have respect for something that they can't really know or explain. But they accept that it is there and that there is some intelligence behind it.
And then you have those who completely ignore its presence. Think back to Han Solo at the beginning of the first movie in 1977. He eventually comes around, but when we first meet him, he has no faith in the Force.
In our world, the first group are the angels, demons, saints (and to a lesser degree satanists.) They all agree that God exists, that He is 3 equal parts in 1, that He is present in the Eucharist and that he has established certain rules that govern the universe.
The second group, hopefully, is composed mostly of people like me and you. We believe that God is all those things listed above, but we have to take it on faith. We can't KNOW these things like the first group can.
And the last group is, unfortunately, the vast majority of the world. They don't know, they don't have faith, and they don't care.
Now look at the events of the 7 movies in the Star Wars universe. The ones that make a difference, that move the plot along, that changed the course of history, are the ones that either KNEW the Truth or those that had FAITH in the Truth. The rest fall back into their own imaginations and self-centered lives. But for Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Padme Amidala, Emperor Palpatine, Count Dooku, Leia Organa, and Han Solo their knowledge of faith of the Truth led them to actions that changed the course of the galaxy one way or another.
In the post-Vatican II years, for many Generation Xers, we looked elsewhere for supernatural understanding because the Church abandoned its divine right. One place we went to was science fiction/fantasy. Things like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings replaced the catechism in helping us understand that there was something greater than us that it is in our lives constantly. For the lucky ones, we looked for and found the elements of that supernatural faith in the Church and came back and are ardent believers. But many of us have been lost because of what the Church decided to do.
But even here, in the story of Anakin Skywalker, there is a lesson.
Even those who are lost can be found again.
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