My Recovery From Liberalism

I count April 1, 1973 as my Sobriety Date. In the five years leading up to that day, my early adulthood, I was afflicted with Liberalism. Not political liberalism (I always have and always will lean left), nor classic economic (free market, low tax-regulation) liberalism (which I have never endorsed), but specifically the post-Vatican II Catholic spiritual liberalism by which I mean a weakened Catholic faith and sanctification of a leftist political vision.

The symptoms:
- Persistent, debilitating, low-grade guilt about suffering, inequality and injustice; a joyless sense of moral burden.
- Diminished sense of the supernatural, especially a weak connection with Jesus Christ as eventful, personal savior, and lowered sense of sacredness of sacraments.
- Above all, transference of religious energies to the political, relocating the origin of evil from sin-world-flesh-devil to social systems of power and injustice and the sanctification of specific policies as sacred. And so, ideological opponents were demonized: those who favor low capital gain tax are greedy, others in favor of strong border security are racists, and so forth. Society fit neatly into three classes: the powerful who oppress, the powerless victims, and the righteous who fight the bad guys.

On April 1, 1973 I finished my Cursillo at which I encountered Jesus in a clear, intimate, powerful manner as my personal Lord and Savior. Shortly after that, I joined the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and received an overflow of the Holy Spirit as a powerful, deep, tender and directive Companion to my soul.

My life changed entirely:

- Along with my wife, I embraced Church teaching on sexuality and marriage (Humanae Vitae); we discontinued contraception; and went on to conceive seven beautiful children.
- I was relieved of that burden of guilt and inadequacy as I felt the constant protection, guidance and strengthening of the Holy Spirit.
- I continued to encounter Christ in the sacraments, the Word of God, fellowship, and personal prayer.
- My focus and energy returned to Christ and his Church. I maintained an interest in national politics, but in a light, relaxed mode; less righteous, zealous, judgmental.
- Under the direction of a holy, erudite Jesuit theologian (Fr. Joseph Whelan S.J.) I had encountered the "kneeling theology" of Hans Urs Von Balthasar and its sense that theology can only spring from holiness of life. So I was well positioned to receive, just a few years later, the splendid teaching of St. John Paul II (especially his catechesis on sexuality and gender) and that of his collaborator, Pope Benedict.

And so, I remain joyful and thankful for being rescued from the guilt, the burden, the judgmentalism and the dreariness of Catholic Liberalism! I prayed and labored to protect my children from this plight, that still pervades Catholic education, and can report happily that they are free from this pathology, that they are rooted in strong Catholic belief and practice even as they lean left politically with me and my family tradition. May my grandchildren and following generations carry on our faith!