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Guest
Obviously, no one can speak to what your respondent from NAFC meant by his apparent misgivings re: your notion of sacrifice and catechesis. Frankly, only he can speak to what he meant and why he said what he said…
First lesson in good catechetics though is the necessity of clarification of thought rather than assuming to know what somebody means or doesn’t mean. Took me a long time to learn that one!
But I wonder if your respondent was referring to a dreary form of Catholicism which ONLY looks at life as a valley of tears, something to be endured and grateful when death comes. This way is often rooted in guilt and fear rather than love and joy even amidst the inevitable times of sorrow and sadness which beset us. That’s certainly contrary to the gospels and the model of the saints.
I’m not ignoring the fact that we experience a healthy moral guilt. An insufferable neurotic guilt is angst ridden, unhealthy and ultimately self-destructive and certainly not a sign which draws people to Christ or his Church.
First lesson in good catechetics though is the necessity of clarification of thought rather than assuming to know what somebody means or doesn’t mean. Took me a long time to learn that one!
But I wonder if your respondent was referring to a dreary form of Catholicism which ONLY looks at life as a valley of tears, something to be endured and grateful when death comes. This way is often rooted in guilt and fear rather than love and joy even amidst the inevitable times of sorrow and sadness which beset us. That’s certainly contrary to the gospels and the model of the saints.
I’m not ignoring the fact that we experience a healthy moral guilt. An insufferable neurotic guilt is angst ridden, unhealthy and ultimately self-destructive and certainly not a sign which draws people to Christ or his Church.