J
JReducation
Guest
I wanted to start a thread on this forum that would look at Vatican II in a positive light. Since I have been on CAF I believe that I have heard almost every conceivable complaint against Vatican II. Some are beginning to repeat themselves, because you can only say so many negative things about something before you become redundant.
But the goal in life is not just to correct everything that we believe is wrong. Obviously, correcting errors, mediating misunderstandings, applying truths correctly are all very serious concerns.
However, being as the Council was guided by the Holy Spirit, even if the men and women attending it were human and sinful, there had to be grace poured out on the Church and on each of us. The Holy Spirit never makes himself absent from the Church. It is safe to believe that he did not make himself absent from Vatican II.
If we are to fulfill our vocation, which is Christ’s call to the union of our soul with his Divinity, we must work at being saints, not just critics. Saints make it to Heaven; critics only make the front page of the newspaper, if they’re good at it.
This thread is not for those who have complaints against Vatican II or for debates. It is a post for sharing the graces that we received through Vatican II, either directly or remotely.
I was born and raised Jewish. When Vatican II began I was a little boy. No, I’m not going to tell you my age. Suffice it to say that I remember the Council. Like most Jews and non Catholics I always thought that the Catholic Church lived in a bubble.
Given the sexual liberation of the 1960s and 70s, the racial tensions in our country, the explosion of the drug culture, the Cold War, JFK’s threat to the Russians if they did not recall their weapons, the assassination of so many leaders in our country and abroad, and other things that I’m leaving out, I felt that I was drowning.
At the time of Vatican II I was attending a Catholic school run by Capuchin-Franciscans, because in my hometown Jews and Black people were not welcome in public schools. As I approached my college years I began to question the world around me. I remember going back to my Capuchin Brothers and asking them to help me understand. One of the friars gave me a copy of Lumen Gentium.
“He therefore chose the race of Israel as a people unto Himself. With it He set up a covenant. Step by step He taught and prepared this people, making known in its history both Himself and the decree of His will and making it holy unto Himself. All these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant, which was to be ratified in Christ, and of that fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word of God Himself made flesh” (Ch II, parr 9)
This was the first time that I saw my people as part of the mystery of redemption. It was through Lumen Gentium that I came to know this great truth that my people were not excluded from salvation by Catholics, but they were essential to the process of Redemption.
While many say that the Council was a pastoral council and made no dogmatic declarations, I believe that this simple declaration regarding the relationship between Israel and the Church is solemn truth. This statement made me look at Jesus Christ as more than a good man who had been unjustly killed 2000 years ago.
I cannot speak for others, but this great truth was the beginning of a journey toward Christ that has lasted more than 30 years.
In Perfectae Caritatis I found another great truth that moved me.
“Communities which are entirely dedicated to contemplation, so that their members in solitude and silence, with constant prayer and penance willingly undertaken, occupy themselves with God alone, retain at all times, no matter how pressing the needs of the active apostolate may be, an honorable place in the Mystical Body of Christ, whose “members do not all have the same function” (Rom. 12:4). For these offer to God a sacrifice of praise which is outstanding,” (Parr 7).
By observing contemplative communities, I learned the true meaning of prayer, the value of silence, the efficaciousness of solitude, the power of penance and the centrality of the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours in daily life. I came to realize that contemplative religious are a gift that God gives us to imitate, not to keep hidden. For scripture tell us that we should not put a lamp under a basket where it gives no light.
Contemplative life is lived by religious for the benefit of the Church. Their prayers change the world with more power and more permanency than any action that we can undertake. Through my beloved Capuchin Friars I came to understand that this life is to be imitated by all peoples. It exists for the sanctification of its members and as a witness of true intimacy with the Incarnate Son of God. The contemplative religious teaches us how to be intimate with God. This more than a pastoral statement; there is no lack of truth in the fact that those who take upon themselves to live for God alone occupy a place of honour in the Mystical Body.
This was the life that I wanted. However, because of health reasons I was unable to enter a monastery, but not unable to live this life in the privacy of my home. Once again, God gave me another grace through this event that we call Vatican II.
I welcome anyone else who has received other graces directly or indirectly through Vatican II and its teachings.
Remember, no debates please. This is a thread to bear witness, not to debate.
JR
But the goal in life is not just to correct everything that we believe is wrong. Obviously, correcting errors, mediating misunderstandings, applying truths correctly are all very serious concerns.
However, being as the Council was guided by the Holy Spirit, even if the men and women attending it were human and sinful, there had to be grace poured out on the Church and on each of us. The Holy Spirit never makes himself absent from the Church. It is safe to believe that he did not make himself absent from Vatican II.
If we are to fulfill our vocation, which is Christ’s call to the union of our soul with his Divinity, we must work at being saints, not just critics. Saints make it to Heaven; critics only make the front page of the newspaper, if they’re good at it.
This thread is not for those who have complaints against Vatican II or for debates. It is a post for sharing the graces that we received through Vatican II, either directly or remotely.
I was born and raised Jewish. When Vatican II began I was a little boy. No, I’m not going to tell you my age. Suffice it to say that I remember the Council. Like most Jews and non Catholics I always thought that the Catholic Church lived in a bubble.
Given the sexual liberation of the 1960s and 70s, the racial tensions in our country, the explosion of the drug culture, the Cold War, JFK’s threat to the Russians if they did not recall their weapons, the assassination of so many leaders in our country and abroad, and other things that I’m leaving out, I felt that I was drowning.
At the time of Vatican II I was attending a Catholic school run by Capuchin-Franciscans, because in my hometown Jews and Black people were not welcome in public schools. As I approached my college years I began to question the world around me. I remember going back to my Capuchin Brothers and asking them to help me understand. One of the friars gave me a copy of Lumen Gentium.
“He therefore chose the race of Israel as a people unto Himself. With it He set up a covenant. Step by step He taught and prepared this people, making known in its history both Himself and the decree of His will and making it holy unto Himself. All these things, however, were done by way of preparation and as a figure of that new and perfect covenant, which was to be ratified in Christ, and of that fuller revelation which was to be given through the Word of God Himself made flesh” (Ch II, parr 9)
This was the first time that I saw my people as part of the mystery of redemption. It was through Lumen Gentium that I came to know this great truth that my people were not excluded from salvation by Catholics, but they were essential to the process of Redemption.
While many say that the Council was a pastoral council and made no dogmatic declarations, I believe that this simple declaration regarding the relationship between Israel and the Church is solemn truth. This statement made me look at Jesus Christ as more than a good man who had been unjustly killed 2000 years ago.
I cannot speak for others, but this great truth was the beginning of a journey toward Christ that has lasted more than 30 years.
In Perfectae Caritatis I found another great truth that moved me.
“Communities which are entirely dedicated to contemplation, so that their members in solitude and silence, with constant prayer and penance willingly undertaken, occupy themselves with God alone, retain at all times, no matter how pressing the needs of the active apostolate may be, an honorable place in the Mystical Body of Christ, whose “members do not all have the same function” (Rom. 12:4). For these offer to God a sacrifice of praise which is outstanding,” (Parr 7).
By observing contemplative communities, I learned the true meaning of prayer, the value of silence, the efficaciousness of solitude, the power of penance and the centrality of the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours in daily life. I came to realize that contemplative religious are a gift that God gives us to imitate, not to keep hidden. For scripture tell us that we should not put a lamp under a basket where it gives no light.
Contemplative life is lived by religious for the benefit of the Church. Their prayers change the world with more power and more permanency than any action that we can undertake. Through my beloved Capuchin Friars I came to understand that this life is to be imitated by all peoples. It exists for the sanctification of its members and as a witness of true intimacy with the Incarnate Son of God. The contemplative religious teaches us how to be intimate with God. This more than a pastoral statement; there is no lack of truth in the fact that those who take upon themselves to live for God alone occupy a place of honour in the Mystical Body.
This was the life that I wanted. However, because of health reasons I was unable to enter a monastery, but not unable to live this life in the privacy of my home. Once again, God gave me another grace through this event that we call Vatican II.
I welcome anyone else who has received other graces directly or indirectly through Vatican II and its teachings.
Remember, no debates please. This is a thread to bear witness, not to debate.
JR
