Now is the time for great caution and scrutiny with regards to all those speaking in the public square in the name of the Roman Catholic Church. This is a time when image and message must be completely conformed to the Magisterium. No loose cannons need to to be unleashed upon the scene at this critical time.
Must you? Which is worse, being overly flamboyant in teaching style or making uncharitable innuendos?
There is no need to attack me. Neither you nor I know for certain what happened here, but as I say, if he was the one who chose to step down for a while, I give him credit. I realize there are many, many people who really like Christopher West and that he has helped many, and I’m glad for that. But he needs to fine tune things, and I believe that is what he is doing.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched EWTN and thought that the priests I’ve seen on there sounded gay. I’ve never come away with that image of any of them. How odd.
Me neither, but my TV is not on much
. Perhaps unafraid should pop in a Fr. Corapi DVD sometime
.As a teenage cafeteria Catholic who wallowed with glee in every kind of unchastity, I wonder if someone who did not speak in West’s would have caught my attention, kept it and made me want to live it out. As far as I’m concerned, he is “hip” and he is “cool”. Pretty much thanks to him, I’m doing a postgraduate MA Theology next year, a PhD the year after and then will lecture and research, possibly on Chrysostom’s views of sexuality. Catholicism is mediterranean sunshine, we don’t always need to be po-faced about it, especially with cafeterias like I was.
With all due respect, Archbishop Sheen was not dressed to the nines and as to prancing, I have always seen him lecturing and he was very animated. The Archbishop wore the traditional clothing worn by bishops of his day. Today, this type of garb is reserved for ceremony, though the cassock with the appropriately colored sash are still worn by secular bishops and cardinals. Religious bishops and cardinals wear the habits of their orders.
I don’t know if your wife was referring to the friars or some other priest. But it may help your wife if you explained to her that the friars are Franciscans. They are part of the Franciscan reform, which says that we must go back to the original rules and admonitions of St. Francis written in 1209.
Hello Brother, thank you for your comments. I didn’t mean to convey that I find anything amiss with the way the Archbishop dressed and conducted himself. I’ve always admired him and enjoyed his speaking style.With all due respect, Archbishop Sheen was not dressed to the nines and as to prancing, I have always seen him lecturing and he was very animated. The Archbishop wore the traditional clothing worn by bishops of his day. Today, this type of garb is reserved for ceremony, though the cassock with the appropriately colored sash are still worn by secular bishops and cardinals. Religious bishops and cardinals wear the habits of their orders.
These robes were very straight. They were the robes worn by princes and kings for centuries. In fact, the Eastern Catholic bishops still dress in robes and veils or turbans, instead oa a cassock and suchetto as do the Romans.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
The bold is mine. Before speaking to it, thank you for your kind response. Now to the bold. I do agree with you. We are becoming hyper vigilant. We went from a society that did not pay enough attention to subtleties to one that pays too much attention to the insignficant. That makes us hyper vigilant. We read too much into things. We have to find balance or we lose our inner silence. Without inner silence we cannot pray properly.
I thought it was Karl Jung who said that (part of the reason him and Freud had a falling out).
I thought it was Freud, but you may be right. The fact is that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. We should not read too much into everything.