So is the Pope referring to the institutional church when he says it is “too self-absorbed”? At least partly? I’m getting a little confused reading all this. It sure seems to me that reading here at CAF forums that some things are out of whack, what with all the emphasis on “liturgical abuse” and “canon law says this and that”, etc. I’ve sometimes wondered where the Love of Christ is in all that. I hear Brother saying that some application is needed-there is some subjectivity. But people here have jumped down my throat when I’ve tried to express that in other threads–that sometimes there IS such a thing as being pastoral in approach with people.
One thing that I struggle to grasp is HOW do I deal lovingly with all the New Age, homosexual, cohabitating, cheating, politically correct people I interact with every day? What does it mean to love them? Obviously I treat them with respect but am I just supposed to pray for them if they are living sinful lives (not saying I don’t have sin either). Does it matter if they come to know Christ? Or will God just accept them in heaven because they are so influenced by the culture? Help me understand.
I just reread this… I didn’t mean it to sound so judgemental of others. What I mean to say is do I just let it go when others live obviously sinful lifestyles? I think rereading this, the answer is “yes”… leave it to God to judge. I don’t know how God will judge them and maybe I don’t need to worry or even think about that.
It sure is a challenge living in this culture sometimes! Wish I could erase my comment!
I believe that the Church is trying to tell us several things.
- These are sins. There is to be no confusion about it.
- We cannot and should not deny that X is good and Y is bad. The Holy Father does it all the time.
- The Church also wants us to remember that we who are allegedly Catholics are no better than any other sinner. This is where we have often fallen into a pothole as I call it. I have often read blogs on the Internet and posts on forums that leave my jaw on the ground. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Here you have a Catholic calling another person a sinner, sometimes by name, sometimes in a very rude and aggressive manner and justifying himself by invoking names such as St. Catherine of Siena or St. Paul.
The truth is that neither Catherine nor Paul were arrogant. They were very discreet. Their letters were for specific people and they were not made public to the world until long after they were dead. The Pauline Letters were not readily available at the local Catholic Book Store as they are today. We sin by presumption. Those letters made it to the hands of their intended audiences without the rest of the world being made aware that there was a problem in Corinth, Ephesus or Rome. We, on the other hand, make sure that the world knows who sins and what sin they committed. We post it in blogs, bulletin boards, chat room, newspapers and magazines, newsletters. and bathroom walls.
This is morally wrong. A sinner has not right to reduce another sinner to dust and cover his or her rear end.
One of the most beautiful practices that we have in my community is the Chapter of Faults. In the Chapter of Faults each brother gets up before the community and proclaims his faults. There is no room to make another feel badly or guilty, because you’re admitting that you’re the scum of the earth and the other sinner, is a saint by comparison to you. We admit our faults and then we prostrate on the floor for the other brothers to pass judgment on us. However, the rule says that no one may do so. Everyone must look the other way. Only the superior may judge and punish, because he speaks in the name of Christ who is the lawgiver and the unblemished lamb.
It think that this is what the Holy Father is calling us to do.
Remember, this is easy for him and for me to understand, much easier than it is for most of you. He and I come from religious orders where this had been our custom for centuries and where commenting on the sins of another can get you one week eating your meals on your knees in the middle of the dining room. You had better keep your mouth shut can make your comments only to those who need to know. This is why he comes down so hard on gossip. This finger pointing business is starting to become gossip.
Very often, the people pointing fingers are mean and ugly. They have nothing kind to say about those whom they find to be sinful. Just browse the internet and you’ll see. This is morally wrong. This is worse than abortion, homosexuality, adultery, contraception and sending your kids to bed without supper.
The tongue is the strongest muscle in the body and it can do the most harm. Because much of what rolls off the tongue is intentional. It is with full knowledge that it’s going to do harm rather than good.
When people are absorbed in their own goodness, they don’t see this or if they do, they minimize it or even justify it in the name of “honesty” or “frankness.”
Hell is full of so called honest and frank people.
- We are to guide people away from sin. Guide and drag are not the same thing. Imagine a child who does something wrong. You grab his ears and drag him across the room in the presence of others. How humiliating is this?
Is humiliation a form of charity? Did Christ ever humiliate anyone? He corrected. At times he even scolded. But he never treated anyone beneath their dignity.
:console: