COVID-19 Destroys Nietzche's Illusion of the Superman - Put Faith in God

Cardinal Robert Sarah (LifeSite News)

Modern secular society, which worships the accomplishments of man, is being crippled by COVID-19. The thousands of cracks in society, created by freemasonry and Nietzche's concept of the Übermensch, are being made visible and continue to fracture as the world discovers that there is little preternatural faith and grace to hold it together.

Politicians, businessmen, scientists, military commanders, humanitarians, media correspondents, religious clericsand other leaders often boast about the accomplishments made and the sacrifices offered on the altar of humanity for the Superman. The fact is, as the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated, all temporal concerns are fleeting. As the Lord commanded:

"lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal." (Matthew 6:19-20)

and: "You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

To the narrow-minded philosopher Nietzsche, who asserted that 'God is Dead,' the irony affirms that a Godless society, after being attacked by an invisible enemy, is nearly dead.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, gave a lengthy interview on Maundy Thursday, April 9th, on the coronavirus pandemic with Charlotte d’Ornella of the French journal Valeurs.

"D'ORNELLA: How do you feel about the coronavirus crisis?

CARDINAL SARAH: This virus acted as a warning. In a matter of weeks, the great illusion of a material world that thought itself all-powerful seems to have collapsed. A few days ago, politicians were talking about growth, pensions, reducing unemployment. They were sure of themselves. And now a virus, a microscopic virus, has brought this world to its knees, a world that looks at itself, that pleases itself, drunk with self-satisfaction because it thought it was invulnerable. The current crisis is a parable. It has revealed how all we do and are invited to believe was inconsistent, fragile and empty. We were told: you can consume without limits! But the economy has collapsed and the stock markets are crashing. Bankruptcies are everywhere. We were promised to push the limits of human nature ever further by a triumphant science. We were told about artificial procreation, surrogate motherhood, transhumanism, enhanced humanity. We boasted of being a man of synthesis and a humanity that biotechnologies would make invincible and immortal. But here we are in a panic, confined by a virus about which we know almost nothing. Epidemic was an outdated, medieval word. It suddenly became our everyday life. I believe this epidemic has dispelled the smoke of illusion. The so-called all-powerful man appears in his raw reality. There he is naked. His weakness and vulnerability are glaring. Being confined to our homes will hopefully allow us to turn our attention back to the essentials, to rediscover the importance of our relationship with God, and thus the centrality of prayer in human existence. And, in the awareness of our fragility, to entrust ourselves to God and to his paternal mercy.

"D'ORNELLA: Is this a crisis of civilization?

CARDINAL SARAH: "I have often repeated, especially in my last book, Le soir approche et déjà le jour baisse, [The Day is Now Far Spent] that the great mistake of modern man was to refuse to be dependent. Modern man wants to be radically independent. He does not want to depend on the laws of nature. He refuses to be dependent on others by committing himself to definitive bonds such as marriage. It is humiliating to be dependent on God. He feels he owes nothing to anyone. Refusing to be part of a network of dependence, inheritance and afiliation condemns us to enter naked into the jungle of competition from an economy left to its own devices.

But this is all an illusion. The experience of confinement has allowed many to rediscover that we are really and concretely dependent on each other. When everything collapses, only the bonds of marriage, family and friendship remain. We have rediscovered that as members of a nation, we are bound by bonds that are unbreakable but real. Above all, we have rediscovered that we are dependent on God."

The good Cardinal is correct, as the Lord continues on temporal needs:

"Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit? And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith?" (Matthew 6:26-30)

and: "Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:31-34)

As we pass Good Friday, it is important to contemplate how our humble Lord rejected temporal concerns and was rejected by the world. The Tenth Station, on the Way of the Cross, has a very important lesson for us:

"My innocent Jesus, by the merits of the torment Thou hast felt, help me to strip myself of tall affection to things of earth, in order that I may place all my love in Thee, who art so worthy of my love. I love Thee, O Jesus, with my whole heart; I repent of having offended Thee. Never permit me to offend Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always; and then do with me what Thou wilt." - The Prayer Book, Catholic Press, 1954

Put faith in God, rather than man, and continue to pray and give thanks for all that He has provided, "for I am rich enough and ask for nothing more."

In Christ Crucified and the Most Victorious Heart of Jesus.