"Different Catholicisms are already detaching themselves from these old structures, from below: Catholics redefining their mass attendance, their loving relationships, their relation to the magisterium, their sense of the roles of women, their relation to people of other faiths and religions, and more."But the value of faith is always determined by the object, and not by the creativity or intensity of the believer. As Fr. Carron warned us two years ago:
"We want to get by on our own energy. As one of you said, “I would change the title from ‘Reality is what cries, “He exists!”’ to‘Reality is what cries,“Everything is Mystery.”’Before the fact of Eluana [or of a Church filled with filth], I acknowledge that the fact that she exists is a mystery, but I stop there; I don’t go further and say that I need Christ in order to look at this situation.” He can’t go further and say he needs Christ, that he needs a bond stronger than any evil. Instead, obedience is reasonable only if we see that in this bond, in this belonging to the Father lies “the success of life,” because leaving You, Christ, is the true sacrifice. In Jesus, what has won? This relationship with the Father, the bond, a lived belonging. Without this, friends, as soon as something comes along that exceeds our measure, we see that our faith has an expiration date."
"The Challenge of the Present." Spiritual Exercises of the University Students of Communion and Liberation. Rimini, Italy. December 2008.
It's tempting to ditch a Church made up of diverse humanity for the sake of a pure entity composed only of the spiritually pure. I know for myself that I'm not pure, I do not have the energy to "dream a new Church into being." If I presumed to do this, I would be confusing the Holy Spirit with my own ego and a deluded sense of myself not rooted in my daily experience. What plan of mortal man does not have an expiration date?
Instead, the true Holy Spirit can always be seen through His works. The people of Israel, the Jews, and especially the Jewish prophets. When the Holy Spirit declared unto Mary (March 25!), she knew that it was not her energy, not her redefinition, not her sense of her own role (the word role means script - as with dramatic actors who later wash off the makeup and go out for drinks), and not relationships established by herself to make life conform to her own ideas. The Holy Spirit's method is Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ's method is the Church - whose stability is not her own, but that of Christ living in her.
Christianity, the Church, has persisted for two thousand years not because of new catholicisms, new gospels, new christs, arising from the 'grass roots' or the efforts of theologians, but by adhering to Jesus Christ: yesterday, today, and forever – through His bruised and battered body, through His extraordinary physiology which we know as the Church.
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen
3 comments:
Great post Fred! Have a blessed Holy Week.
Pax,
Henry
What will the great intellects at America think of next?
actually, the America blog usually offers thoughtful responses but this post was oddly similar in texture to what I expect from Commonweal. And now that the post has been 'updated', I see that the abuse scandals are the latest rationale for a Vatican III which will make all of the dreams which American liberals had for Vatican II finally come to pass...
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