Self-appointed bouncers of the Catholic Church

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I came across this wonderfully insightful article, and thought I’d share it here, where I think we are sometimes tempted to lose charity in pursuit of orthodoxy. It was a good wake-up call to me!

Excerpt:
“We’re all working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). My spiritual director has helped me realize that the future of the Catholic Church doesn’t depend on me being its self-appointed bouncer. He’s also taught me to hate my own sins more than I hate the sins of others. Lust may be one of the seven deadly sins, but so is pride and wrath. Woe to me if I stood before God at my judgment thinking He owed me something because I used NFP only to be shown my place in hell because of my lack of humility and meekness.”

Full article: godspy.com/reviews/The-Pride-Temptation-by-Brian-Pessaro.cfm
 
maendem said:
I came across this wonderfully insightful article, and thought I’d share it here, where I think we are sometimes tempted to lose charity in pursuit of orthodoxy. It was a good wake-up call to me!

Excerpt:
“We’re all working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). My spiritual director has helped me realize that the future of the Catholic Church doesn’t depend on me being its self-appointed bouncer. He’s also taught me to hate my own sins more than I hate the sins of others. Lust may be one of the seven deadly sins, but so is pride and wrath. Woe to me if I stood before God at my judgment thinking He owed me something because I used NFP only to be shown my place in hell because of my lack of humility and meekness.”

Full article: godspy.com/reviews/The-Pride-Temptation-by-Brian-Pessaro.cfm
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Thanks for the link to a good article. Its point, as shown by the above exerpt, is something I need to address in my own life.

There is a fine line between the happiness (or resignation) and pride brought on by following Church teaching.

Is pride in my lack of pride prideful?
 
Great article that I needed.

I dare you to post it in the “Traditional Section!”

See, I told you I needed the article!
 
Very interesting article. Thanks for bringing it up. I think one of the most hateful things I’ve seen on blogs or message boards is the idea that any Catholic who disagrees with the poster ought to leave the Church. The attitude is that the Church would be so much better without people like THEM. I can’t help but think that those are the kinds of people Jesus was inviting IN.
 
Interesting comment to the article. I guess—if we love one another–we can sin all as we want.

Bad–bad people --for trying to lead others out of sin and into following the teachings and laws of the Church. :rolleyes:

godspy.com/reviews/The-Pride-Temptation-by-Brian-Pessaro.cfm

READER COMMENTS

03.23.07 klossg says:
Gorgeous! I am right there with you Brian. I am an NFP teacher. I have thought I was the greatest thing on earth. I know different now. My brothers and sisters who contracept can kick my judgemental butt on how much love they have and give to others. I am the cold one. I judged my brothers and sisters like they were evil! You are calling us out. Way to go. My pride is the worst. It makes my belly ache. God bless you and keep you.George
 
Walking_Home said:
Interesting comment to the article. I guess—if we love one another–we can sin all as we want.

Bad–bad people --for trying to lead others out of sin and into following the teachings and laws of the Church. :rolleyes:
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I didn’t get that from the article. I just thought the author was recognizing his own sins, not saying that others may sin as much as they please.

Some of us (converts and reverts especially) seem to take on a possessive attitude towards the Church and its teachings. As if they stand or fall by us being better than other Catholics–that is what he is saying, IMO.

We must live and teach the truth in love. If we approach others high-handedly, we are no better than the Pharisees Jesus railed against for their lack of charity–their lack of understanding of the weaknesses of others.
 
Walking_Home said:
Interesting comment to the article. I guess—if we love one another–we can sin all as we want.
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Wow! Where did anyone say that?

I took the article as something akin to what Jesus said:

“Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
 
Della said:
I didn’t get that from the article. I just thought the author was recognizing his own sins, not saying that others may sin as much as they please.

Some of us (converts and reverts especially) seem to take on a possessive attitude towards the Church and its teachings. As if they stand or fall by us being better than other Catholics–that is what he is saying, IMO.

We must live and teach the truth in love. If we approach others high-handedly, we are no better than the Pharisees Jesus railed against for their lack of charity–their lack of understanding of the weaknesses of others.
Click to expand...
READER COMMENTS

03.23.07 klossg says:
Gorgeous! I am right there with you Brian. I am an NFP teacher. I have thought I was the greatest thing on earth. I know different now. My brothers and sisters who contracept can kick my judgemental butt on how much love they have and give to others. I am the cold one. I judged my brothers and sisters like they were evil! You are calling us out. Way to go. My pride is the worst. It makes my belly ache. God bless you and keep you.George​

I was referencing the comment. Now if people can use the article to justify–sin ( as klossg did) and further— justify disobedience to the authority of the Church to regulate the Mass—the article becomes nothing more than—justification of disobedience under the disguise of charity and love with a dose of “pride” thrown in.
 
Walking_Home said:
READER COMMENTS

03.23.07 klossg says:
Gorgeous! I am right there with you Brian. I am an NFP teacher. I have thought I was the greatest thing on earth. I know different now. My brothers and sisters who contracept can kick my judgemental butt on how much love they have and give to others. I am the cold one. I judged my brothers and sisters like they were evil! You are calling us out. Way to go. My pride is the worst. It makes my belly ache. God bless you and keep you.George​

I was referencing the comment. Now if people can use the article to justify–sin ( as klossg did) and further— justify disobedience to the authority of the Church to regulate the Mass—the article becomes nothing more than—justification of disobedience under the disguise of charity and love with a dose of “pride” thrown in.
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And I didn’t get that from the reader response, either. Where did s/he say that it was fine for others to sin? Simply saying that s/he regrets judging his/her sisters as “evil” is hardly justifying their sins (if any).

And where did s/he say anything about “justifying disobedience to the authority of the Church to regulate the Mass”? That topic was never brought up at all. :confused:

Besides, even if the responder did get what you say out of the article, that would be his/her opinion, not what the author wrote.
 
Della said:
And I didn’t get that from the reader response, either. Where did s/he say that it was fine for others to sin? Simply saying that s/he regrets judging his/her sisters as “evil” is hardly justifying their sins (if any).

And where did s/he say anything about “justifying disobedience to the authority of the Church to regulate the Mass”? That topic was never brought up at all. :confused:

Besides, even if the responder did get what you say out of the article, that would be his/her opinion, not what the author wrote.
Click to expand...
03.23.07 klossg says:
Gorgeous! I am right there with you Brian. I am an NFP teacher. I have thought I was the greatest thing on earth. I know different now. My brothers and sisters who contracept can kick my judgemental butt on how much love they have and give to others. I am the cold one. I judged my brothers and sisters like they were evil! You are calling us out. Way to go. My pride is the worst. It makes my belly ache. God bless you and keep you.George
Well Della—can’t do much about you “not getting it”—but its there. Sin is still sin----no matter how “loving” we come across. Letting sin go–because we have been led to believe it is judgemental to correct it—just makes us co-operate with it.
 
This whole thread, including the article referred to at the top, reminds me of something I recently read in Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. He talked about a genius of Christianity being its ability to separate the sin from the sinner (sorry, I couldn’t find the quote).

But here’s something from Chesterton more to the point about our pride: “I venture to say that what is bad in the candid friend is simply that he is not candid. He is keeping something back - his own gloomy pleasure in saying unpleasant things.” Orthodoxy, Chapter 5, paragraph 7.

The author of the original quote on this thread is being candid with us. The hard thing for me is to be candid with myself. Sometimes when I correct someone, such as one of my students in school, I feel I am being sincerely kind and helpful. Other times, such as when a priest or deacon seems to be questioning Church authority, I feel personally attacked, and I am hard-pressed to respond in charity; and to consider first that God is in control, and second that God loves both me and the speaker with infinite tenderness and wants to call us to an intimate and trusting relationship with Him.
 
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