If I may, I’d like to come at this from the perspective of Mystical Theology. One of the things that the great saints can teach all of us, regardless what side of the aisle we sit on is to keep our inner peace in all situations.
No one had to fight heresy like Francis Xavier or Ignatius of Loyola, yet Ignatius developed a series of spiritual exercises for him and his followers that kept them focussed on Christ. Through an intense life of prayer and penance they managed to preserve their inner peace.
Teresa of Avila was taken before the Inquisition for trying to recover the original spirit of Carmel. While she defended herself before her inquisitors, what we see in her is a certain amount of dignity and composure. She gave all the right answers, asked all the right questions, but she never lost her composure. This won her case.
Our holy father Francis presented himself before Innocent III and Honorius with his rule, which was to renew the Church and restore it to its evangelical roots. He was challenged, questioned and even sent away on several occasions. But we look at him and he never loses his composure or his hope.
Blessed Mother Teresa waited for two years for the Archbishop of Calcutta and Pope Pius XII to acknowledge that Christ wanted her to found an Indian congregation of charity. This was a novel idea at the time. It may still be. She was told not to think about it, not to pray about it, and to ignore the voices that she heard. She obeyed. She never lost her composure.
What do all these folks have in common? Several things, they are not concerned with themselves. Their only concern is with loving Christ. Even when the Church was wrong, they obeyed out of love for Christ and Christ rewarded them for their love. Another common characteristic of these great mystics, they knew that if this was Christ’s will, it would come to pass sooner or later. There was never any reason for them to be in a hurry to reform the Church, because the reforms would come – as long as they were God’s will. The last and most important thing, they were desirous of doing God’s will, not their own will. Therefore, even when they suspected that their superiors, priests, bishops, and even the pope may be mistaken, they always allowed for the benefit of the doubt and they obeyed with patience, no matter how strongly they believed in something. If it never came, then it was not God’s will and they offered the pain of disappointment with Christ’s sufferings on the cross.
The only way to sanctity is through interior silence.
Fraternally in St. Francis,
JR
It is very orthodox. How can this be dangerous? We are talking liturgical concerns, are we not?