XCII – Vichy Earth

France was conquered in six weeks, ending on 10 May 1940. They endured the war until D-Day under jointly German Occupation and a puppet government established in the town of Vichy. A resistance existed, and performed various symbolic acts of resistance designed to draw Nazi resources away from the fronts of battle. In this, they were effective, but in actually liberating their nation, there was nothing they could do. This was a resistance, not a restoration.

Vive la Résistance

The French Resistance was able to do a lot more once the Allies landed at Normandy. They provided aid, navigation, reconnaissance, supplies to allied troops. The Allies landed in sympathetic territory, and merely needed to drive out the oppressors, rather than occupy the people.

Imagine, for a moment, being in the French Resistance between 10 May 1940 and 6 June 1944. Surely, you wanted all freedom loving Frenchmen to join your cause. Perhaps some were apathetic and needed to be convinced, but overall if you could get through to them you could convince them to join the Resistance. Resistance meant doing certain things at certain times: For example, General deGaulle asked everyone to stay indoors as a form of passive resistance on a certain day. Other times, your activities were individual: Perhaps you could give bad directions to a Nazi courier. Perhaps you could slow a supply train as it passed through your town.

The authorities had a responsibility of communicating with the allies if they could, in order to ensure their efforts were unified. Imagine for example if the French Resistance tore up train tracks which the allies needed for their effort later on–that would be disruptive. So keeping consistent with the Allies was key. Every other citizen simply needed to use their radios to keep informed or receive instructions. In General, as a member of the Resistance, you had to keep fit, alert, and be ready to help at a moments notice.

The Church is like the French Resistance. We are beset on all sides, we have no power to restore order, only to organize ourselves and be prepared for when God returns with his great and terrible host at the end of all things. There is little we can do to help, but there is much we can do to prepare.

The Church is Burning

Like Notre Dame, the Church is burning in a great and terrible transformation. According to this (annoying but interesting) economist, the Boomer generation will begin their decline and the Millenials will ascend within the next 10 years. With them will go the money that is propping up the Church, Inc we know today. The population pyramid of the Church is a sharp “V” shape, and we’re likely to go from a billion Catholics to a sparse few. What does all this mean?

The Church doesn’t need to be prestigious, wealthy, or prominent. For you and me, give us a priest, an altar, and a valid consecration. Whether it’s in a Cathedral or a basement, it is a valid Mass, and it transcends time and space to join the Church Militant with the Church Triumphant, all the Angels and Saints, in the presence of our Eucharistic Lord. We don’t need to be popular or famous or wealthy or anything: We just need Mass. Maybe soon, that’s all we’ll have.

AMDG