Hmn…
There is a difference between recognizing knowledge in those who have experienced more on this good earth…than using age as a weapon to throw at people in theological debate.
Nothing hurts more than not being treated as an equal in the field that I love most…Catholicism.
I dont need to quote any sources to prove that point.
Im leaving this discussion.
Concerning charity…the charitable thing to do was to respond like a “grown-up” and try and manifest some sort of peaceful reply. But in answer to my protest to being degraded…you pile on more insults.
Well…we have seen who out of the two of us is being mature.
I’ll say this in this thread and not in the other one, so you won’t have to look for it being repeated:
Lot’s of young people come to these forums (teens/college students, etc.) asking for information, expressing their views, their feelings about the Church, opinions, etc. That’s why these forums exist. Some come quite respectfully, quite decently, even with opinions that I disagree with (if you had said,“For me, reception on the tongue is more reverent,” or “I prefer the TLM to the NO,” I wouldn’t have a quibble with that, mostly because it’s probably patently true…you DO find the one more reverent, you DO prefer the one to the other). Others don’t. They come arrogantly, full of themselves and the self-assurance that they are correct. That’s okay also, up to a point, because that’s what teenagers HAVE to do (I did it) to establish an identity for themselves, seperate from the identity that’s been established for them by their parents. It’s a part of growing up. But it also part of growing up to be called on it (and I was called on it as well). And when you or anyone else presumes to falsely attribute to the Church something that she doesn’t in fact say or doesn’t in fact teach, you’re going to get called on it. To take as an example, communion in the hand. It’s not a sin because the Church cannot allow, cannot permit, is incapable of permitting, a discipline that would lead the faithful astray (that doesn’t mean that people cannot do something sinful BY receiving in the hand, but they can do the same thing by receiving on the tongue). In saying that it’s a sin (and you said you didn’t mean to say that and I accept that), you’ve set yourself up against the Church. And the question that I would have to ask is this: by what authority do you do so?
It’s a fair question. When a teen on these threads compares the NO Mass with the phrase “you can put a lipstick on a pig, but…,” I want to know by what authority does he do so. When another advocates the resumption of the burning of heretics, I ask the same question again. When a teen dismisses out of hand the Second Vatican council or the decisions made by a pope, same question.
You ARE my equal in the field that we both love the most…the Catholic Church. But make no mistake: you are not the pope’s equal, nor are you the equal of any council or the fathers who sat on any council or of the college of bishops. And neither am I. When there are things that I find questionable (kissing Korans, bunching up with pagans and material heretics to pray, praying in the direction of Mecca), I try and remember the burden those shepherds carry. Remember the speech the Holy Father gave in Germany? He spoke absolute truth and what happened? A nun died and churches far from Rome burned, people’s lives were affected far from the Holy See. I remember that. I remember John Paul’s experience of living in Poland during the war. I remember Pius XII and the horrible burden he bore, the agonzing question he must have asked himself (“Do I denounce the Nazis more fervently and risk the martyrdom of millions or should I be more circumspect…and STILL risk the martrydom of millions.”) I think on all of that and try to weigh that in against the things that I find questionable. There’s lots of little “arm chair” pontiffs who don’t. A fair number of them identify themselves as teenagers.
Sorry if I offended you, but I cannot help, but point out the absurdity of the situation. You’re talking about things to which you are entitled to your subjective opinion and you’ve a right to do so. You simply don’t have the right to misrepresent the Church, you don’t have the right to mistate facts, and you don’t have the right to sit in judgment of men who have carried this burden for longer than you’ve been alive.
And I’m always going to defend the Church and the facts.
A wise nun once told me that “humility” and “humus” both come from the same Latin root. Humus, of course, is a very rich soil, made from the deterioration of vegetable matter, matter that is broken down and degraded. Time is a large factor in that process. Age (time) brings humility. You can grow good crops in both.
I’m cool…
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