tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post1180184907524427989..comments2024-03-15T08:55:29.800-04:00Comments on The Musical Priest: A Civil Society?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01087811856300842855noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post-71568010955043136482013-03-16T09:10:22.296-04:002013-03-16T09:10:22.296-04:00Just as a man can, over the course of his life, wr...Just as a man can, over the course of his life, write many love poems to his wife, not a single one of which will ever capture perfectly or adequately what she means to him, so also is it impossible for any teaching express the fullness of Truth. In every stage of a husband’s life, just as in every stage of the Church, we have to respond to the question of ‘Who” the Lord of history is and how we’ve come to know the Lord in new ways.<br /><br />I mean, not for nothing, the orthodox answer to Jesus’ identity is written in Greek using philosophical categories no longer in vogue today, at least not among the vast majority of Catholics. If I said homouousion at the table, my mother would have thought that I was talking about gay people. Yet, that is orthodox. We adapt our language, some doing a much better, others a much poorer, job.<br /><br />The power grab is seen when it is assumed that there is, in a given era, ONLY one way to talk about matters of faith. That’s simply not possible: time passes, new situations arise, and the Gospel must be proclaimed in each era. Rather than focusing on improving our proclamation – agreeing on an end – much effort seems to be expended/wasted on dictate a timeless grammar of speaking of God which, quite frankly, will always fail.<br /><br />As to the second point, I’m not denying the Pope as the Vicar of Christ. I should have stressed that being a part of the Church is not blind obedience. We belong in the Church as persons, wayfarers, of hope: our hearts moved by a faith given to us by God, we set out together on a journey toward our ultimate beatitude. Yet, we’re not forced into this journey against our will: we must make for our own the journey of discipleship. The Church, as an entire body, is itself the instrument of God’s plan inaugurating the Kingdom; the Pope, in this way, is the sacrament of the Church who makes present in his person the future goal we have not yet received fully. <br /><br />Members in the Church, not solely of the world and yet the Kingdom, are what they call a ‘tertium quid’ or third way. We live in the tension of receiving and believing the Gospel. Thus there is an inescapable blurring of the civil/ecclesial because we’re on the road, one foot in the world, one foot stepping toward the Kingdom. It’s only because our eyes are open, and our hearts on fire, that we can journey along together and invite others to be our companions. Ours is not a truth to be hoarded, like smog the dragon, but is meant to be shared with others, the living water and eternal bread that strengthens us en route to our heavenly destination. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01087811856300842855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post-19836793083099161082013-03-16T00:59:42.283-04:002013-03-16T00:59:42.283-04:00I read all this everywhere and I think how the Chu...I read all this everywhere and I think how the Church has been thrown all a-turmoil these past 50 years or so struggling to find a branch to steady on. There's no doubt in my heart that the Holy Spirit is just beginning to teach us baby birds how to fly...jamezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12910320855332238203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post-61744432704396201222013-03-16T00:10:02.623-04:002013-03-16T00:10:02.623-04:00As one of the folks whom you're alluding to in...As one of the folks whom you're alluding to in thinking you were being uncharitable, I hope you will not mind my chiming in here as well. I'm not clear at all how much you are addressing me/us concerning what I/we asked, so bearing that in mind...<br /><br />1) Totally agree the <i>how</i> is totally variable. As a lay Dominican, we too have a wide variety of <i>hows</i> in terms of how our vocation is lived out over our 800 years.<br /><br />I think the concern, at least the one I was mentioning, is the <i>what</i>. It's one thing to faithfully, authentically represent the Truth in many multifaceted ways. It's another to try to alter or reinterpret that Truth in a way that is inconsistent with the Catholic Faith. Note, to be clear, I am not suggesting you personally are doing this; it was more in the context of the broader discussion of orthodoxy.<br /><br />On that point, you seem to reduce orthodoxy, and aspiring to it, as a form of power. In as much as there is power in the Truth, then that could be true; however, I think it would be wrong to reduce all striving for orthodoxy as some kind of power grab. On the contrary, I would say that there is nothing more worthy than a life spent in service to the Truth. But then, I am Dominican. ;)<br /><br />2) "Shame on us if we expect one person to tell us where we're going. Near as I can tell, that's called a dictatorship and they never seem to end well."<br /><br />In civil society, I agree wholeheartedly. However, in the Church, things are different. Christ is our Head. The Pope is the vicar of Christ; he is our head on this earth, on our journey. It is precisely his duty to lead the Church, to both tell and show us where we're going.<br /><br />This does not deny our individual contributions, of course, but ours is no democracy, nor an individualistic anarchy. We follow the Head; we follow Christ.<br /><br />Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you because there is a mixing of civil and ecclesiastical in what you have written, and it's not clear which parts you mean to apply to which. <br /><br />Thanks for continuing the discourse. I agree--no reason we can't be civil about it. :)Ambrose Littlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14594837944119047630noreply@blogger.com