J
JReducation
Guest
A few months ago one of our novices asked me if it was wrong to be angry at the bishop. I explained to them that our Holy Father Francis lived during a difficult time in the Church’s history, not very different from our own. There was heresy. Bishops and kings made strange bedfellows. There was sexual abuse, stealing, lying cheating, promiscuity, etc. among the clergy and laity alike. It was a time when the Church was in crisis, when popes had nightmares that they saw the Lateran collapsing on their heads. On two occasions, Pope Innocent III had this nightmare. In one of them, he saw Francis of Assisi walk up to the Lateran, rise to the size of a giant and prop it up with his shoulders. The next day, Francis of Assisi showed up at his doorstep.
The second time that Pope Innocent had the same nightmare he saw another friar walk up to the Lateran, lean against it and hold it up. It was Dominic de Guzman. The next day, Dominic showed up at his doorstep.
Neither Pope Innocent, nor his court was so innocent. Neither was the Emperor Frederick. Of course, we don’t have a window big enough to list all of the heretical movements of the time.
As I told my novices, God revealed something to Pope Innocent through his dreams. He revealed to him that these two beggars would single handedly keep the Church standing. All that Innocent had to do was to remain at his post as the Vicar of Christ and the Successor of Peter. Innocent had no idea how these two beggars would do this, but he trusted. Because he trusted, he approved the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) and the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans). Both families have grown into armies of faithful men and women around the world.
The novices asked me what this had to do with the bishops. I explained that when Francis and Dominic heard the laity and clergy of their time complain and point the finger at their bishops and the pope for their sins, the two Holy Fathers would humbly and simply tell people the following. “Only a bishop can ordain the priest who consecrates the Eucharist and absolves your sins. He needs no other letter of introduction nor any other recommendation than the fact that without him there is no Church.”
For 800 years, Dominicans and Franciscans have taught the faithful (clergy, religious and lay) what our Holy Fathers taught the people of their time. Our popes and bishops can be saints or sinners, just like the rest of us. But there is one thing that commands our respect and our reverence, only they can guarantee the continuation of the Church. Even if a bishop were the most horrid sinner in the world, where ever he is, there is the Church. His honor does not come from his behavior, but from the great power that Christ has bestowed on him. We must never forget that.
If we give in to cultivating anger, hatred, mistrust and judgment against our bishops, we run the risk of being unable to stop ourselves in time before we cross the line where we stop believing in the necessity of the bishop and in the fact that we need him more than he needs us. We cannot ordain, consecrate or absolve. Luther let his anger drive him to blindness and his blindness drove him into heresy.
We must be like Francis and Dominic. We must always keep in mind that sin is part of the human condition. However, the presence of sin does not diminish the role, the power and the need for the bishop in our lives. That alone commands our reverence and our respect, just as we revere and respect the air we breathe. Without it, we die. Without the bishop we can also die.
Francis and Dominic always taught that there was no sin in helping a person in authority see his mistakes, but to throw harp on those faults was gravely sinful, because such behavior only cultivates anger, mistrust, division, disrespect and destroys our inner silence. Many people deserve to be called on the carpet, but as Francis said, “Let the person who has the authority to do so, do it.”
I believe that this spirit of equilibrium that Dominic and Francis taught the people of their time and taught their sons and daughters has actually helped the Church survive many crises and if we maintain this spirit of equilibrium, we will survive this one too. If we give in to anger and hostile feelings, we are doomed.
In this situation that we find ourselves, there were many mistakes made. There is no need to deny that. But the government also made promises and overtures that people trusted. Many people hoped that those promises would be fulfilled and that it might be the beginning of a turn in the right direction. There is no reason not to believe that. God gives all of us the grace to do the right thing.
The Christian life is not meant to be lived in a world of suspicion, arguments, confrontations and conspiracies. As Francis and Dominic taught, the Christian life should do away with all of these. Let’s take the lesson of Francis and Dominic, “Where there is the bishop, there is the Church and without the Church, there is no salvation.”
Christ never said that bishops would be perfect. The role that he entrusted to them was to preach, sanctify and govern. Their personal holiness is between them, God and their spiritual director.
This is not the right time to take the bishops to task and most of us are not the appropriate people to do it. We can present our concerns to the Sacred Congregation for Bishops, when this is over. Right now, we need to be where the Church is and that is where ever the bishop is.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
The second time that Pope Innocent had the same nightmare he saw another friar walk up to the Lateran, lean against it and hold it up. It was Dominic de Guzman. The next day, Dominic showed up at his doorstep.
Neither Pope Innocent, nor his court was so innocent. Neither was the Emperor Frederick. Of course, we don’t have a window big enough to list all of the heretical movements of the time.
As I told my novices, God revealed something to Pope Innocent through his dreams. He revealed to him that these two beggars would single handedly keep the Church standing. All that Innocent had to do was to remain at his post as the Vicar of Christ and the Successor of Peter. Innocent had no idea how these two beggars would do this, but he trusted. Because he trusted, he approved the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) and the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans). Both families have grown into armies of faithful men and women around the world.
The novices asked me what this had to do with the bishops. I explained that when Francis and Dominic heard the laity and clergy of their time complain and point the finger at their bishops and the pope for their sins, the two Holy Fathers would humbly and simply tell people the following. “Only a bishop can ordain the priest who consecrates the Eucharist and absolves your sins. He needs no other letter of introduction nor any other recommendation than the fact that without him there is no Church.”
For 800 years, Dominicans and Franciscans have taught the faithful (clergy, religious and lay) what our Holy Fathers taught the people of their time. Our popes and bishops can be saints or sinners, just like the rest of us. But there is one thing that commands our respect and our reverence, only they can guarantee the continuation of the Church. Even if a bishop were the most horrid sinner in the world, where ever he is, there is the Church. His honor does not come from his behavior, but from the great power that Christ has bestowed on him. We must never forget that.
If we give in to cultivating anger, hatred, mistrust and judgment against our bishops, we run the risk of being unable to stop ourselves in time before we cross the line where we stop believing in the necessity of the bishop and in the fact that we need him more than he needs us. We cannot ordain, consecrate or absolve. Luther let his anger drive him to blindness and his blindness drove him into heresy.
We must be like Francis and Dominic. We must always keep in mind that sin is part of the human condition. However, the presence of sin does not diminish the role, the power and the need for the bishop in our lives. That alone commands our reverence and our respect, just as we revere and respect the air we breathe. Without it, we die. Without the bishop we can also die.
Francis and Dominic always taught that there was no sin in helping a person in authority see his mistakes, but to throw harp on those faults was gravely sinful, because such behavior only cultivates anger, mistrust, division, disrespect and destroys our inner silence. Many people deserve to be called on the carpet, but as Francis said, “Let the person who has the authority to do so, do it.”
I believe that this spirit of equilibrium that Dominic and Francis taught the people of their time and taught their sons and daughters has actually helped the Church survive many crises and if we maintain this spirit of equilibrium, we will survive this one too. If we give in to anger and hostile feelings, we are doomed.
In this situation that we find ourselves, there were many mistakes made. There is no need to deny that. But the government also made promises and overtures that people trusted. Many people hoped that those promises would be fulfilled and that it might be the beginning of a turn in the right direction. There is no reason not to believe that. God gives all of us the grace to do the right thing.
The Christian life is not meant to be lived in a world of suspicion, arguments, confrontations and conspiracies. As Francis and Dominic taught, the Christian life should do away with all of these. Let’s take the lesson of Francis and Dominic, “Where there is the bishop, there is the Church and without the Church, there is no salvation.”
Christ never said that bishops would be perfect. The role that he entrusted to them was to preach, sanctify and govern. Their personal holiness is between them, God and their spiritual director.
This is not the right time to take the bishops to task and most of us are not the appropriate people to do it. We can present our concerns to the Sacred Congregation for Bishops, when this is over. Right now, we need to be where the Church is and that is where ever the bishop is.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
