Sure. This is not directed at any particular poster because we’ve all used the same kinds of phrases and descriptions, etc., but what I meant was that there sometimes is an attitude of, “The Church asks for this but doesn’t require any more and therefore I don’t think that there should be an encouragement to others to do any more than the Church asks for”. Now probably this attitude stems from people who know, or presume, that ‘others’ are full of scrupulosity or know, or presume, that doing ‘more than the minimum’ will somehow encourage people, especially women, to become all prideful and puffed up and holier-than-thou. A lot of presumption but one can’t say it does not happen.
On the other hand, and this is where I come in, I think that there are more likely to be people out there who need and would appreciate a little more fire. People who, without encouragement, without doing a little more digging for information, examining history, etc., might just drift along and become narrow minded and legalistic, “We only NEED to do this” and suspicious of those who go beyond. . .people who, WITH encouragement, might find themselves intrigued, might become more thoughtful about what more they can do for the Lord instead of just doing the bare minimum.
Of course, we’re all different. I just feel that people should have the information and the opportunities laid out for them to choose-or not choose–and not be scared away because of being made to feel that something is ‘too over the top’.
Because we don’t get saints from people who are afraid to ‘go the extra mile’. Which is not, of course, to say that every person must do every ‘extra’ the Church offers but does not ‘require’. . .but it also means that we aren’t supposed to stamp down every extra because "it isn’t required’.
