A reader grapples with cynicism, negativity, and despair

He writes:

I can relate to much of your response to Joe Grabowski.

How can those of us who are in a similar situation to the one you described in your reply to Joe Grabowski do to reach out to our Catholic brethren who have fallen prey to the wolves on the left and right, and what can we do to ensure that we don’t fall into cynicism, negativity, and despair?

I feel your pain. I’m not quite sure of a better answer than “Speak the truth in love” which is easier said than done for me. I’m a terrible example. But that seems to be what it comes down to. Part of the problem is that many of the enemies of Francis and the Church’s teaching have confused American political conservatism and libertarian economics for the Tradition and feel deeply threatened by Francis’ inescapable reassertion of real Catholic teaching. Another aspect is, well, pride. This is a subculture that (not without reason) came to see itself as The Faithful in a post-conciliar Church with a lot of leftist dissent and so forth. But it also came to see itself as Judge, Jury and Executioners of lesser Catholics. And it came to assume that orthodoxy is co-terminous a) American libertarian conservatism and b) Traditionalist forms of piety. The former is human tradition and the latter is a mixture of Church teaching and various culture war shibboleths and aesthetics. And so it adopted an alternative Magisterium that now sits in judgment of the Holy Father himself and listens to a stew of celebrities and culture war heroes and false prophets telling visible-from-space lies that serve culture war ends. It’s a cautionary tale for us all since it can be and will be you and me doing it next under the wrong circumstances. And so we now reach a time where Catholics consider themselves empowered by God to denounce Peter and the Magisterium–and are busy battling the Church for unjust war, torture, mammon, and oppression of the poor while demanding we support a man like Donald Trump.

How to speak to that kind of blindness I don’t know. Because the great battle, of course, is against one’s own pride and anger and I am the last person on earth to look to as an example to follow. My anger has stained my witness and I’m perfectly aware of that. But Jesus and the saints won’t let you down. Nor will the teaching of the Church. Stick with them and with the graces of the sacraments. Sorry I’m not more help! Please pray for me and I will pray for you.