Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Pope Speaks

This is some interesting reading...
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alrighty then, hope to see you at Sunday community. :)

8:18 PM
Unknown said...

Yawp!

What do you mean by "interesting reading"? Is it like my mother telling me my Xmas present was "interesting," or is it like discovering a new writer who is "interesting"?

Or something else entirely?

Btw, I was up in MI this past week - but since my parents don't have A/C, I simply languished on the couch. I would have loved to gotten together - sorry I didn't call. Do you have A/C? If you do, I'm staying at your house next time.

(Actually, I did run out to Holland and Lake MI one day - which was sweet.)

3:38 PM
Dan said...

Interesting's the perfect word, since it's intriguing and fascinating for me on many levels.

Check it: my bro's a priest. He tows the party line, so thus he believes that what the Pope says about us Prots is true of me--and that has to go for the rest of my family as well. Them's powerful words that the Pope has said, and if my family believes that about me (even if they're not wording it to me), it throws a very interesting wrinkle into our relationship. Nothing that will impact it overtly or directly, I'm sure, but nonetheless I'm the only one in my family now who worships outside what they deem as "the one true Church," which means I'm at some sort of disadvantage in fully realizing the grace Christ has offered me. That's an intriguing thought that has to be wrestled with a bit, especially since I don't believe that. (Hmmm...as I'm typing this, I suspect they already believed that about me, i.e., that I'm not fully realizing the grace available to me because I'm not Catholic--I guess this hasn't really changed anything, has it? I now just know this opinion has the backing of Papal authority...though it probably did already.)

This statement of the Pope is right on the heels of listening to a podcast of my brother, with some very Catholic things he said, which I don't believe and yet I know my entire family does believe. That's always a very interesting position to be in.

I also find the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church absolutely fascinating, particularly after this edict from the Pope. Let's sit back and see the sparks fly! I think it's a bit presumptive of Benedict to imply that he's the real deal as compared to Bartholomew--they both have impressive lineages. I'm curious to find out how the Eastern Church will reply to the statement of Benedict that purports that they are part of the true Church, but that they suffer a wound because they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope. Now THAT'S interesting, no matter which way you look at it. :-)

12:22 AM
Unknown said...

Your family loves you and feels no differently about you now than before this clarification from the CDF, if they "tow the party line."

And why should that wrinkle your relationship? It was you, not so many months ago, who told me that one didn't have to believe the same for there to be genuine love and affection between two people - even if one party told the other they didn't want to hear about their faith. Even if one party told the other that their faith was no faith.

But that's all extremes. I'm quite sure that any desire of your family's for you to be Catholic has much more to do with their wanting you to experience their joy rather than having anything to do with their thinking your mortal soul is in danger or that you're a sub-Christian.

Now about your being the only one in your family who worships outside the one true Church - and that you are at some disadvantage in fully realizing or receiving the grace Christ offers. I believe that to be true.

But you don't believe that, do you?

If you do believe it, then become Catholic. If you don't, don't. But neither of us can afford to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves because our families believe that we believe wrongly. Maybe I'm wrong being Catholic. But if I'm wrong, dammit, I will be wrong boldly.

I recently listened to Rob Bell talk about Communion - what it is and what it isn't and who could administer it. These were the same things that the CDF came out about - holy orders and the Eucharist. I was offended by his thoughts about it. But, Surprise! that's what most Protestants believe (or don't believe) about the Eucharist.

And he's still my brother. And I will still listen to him teach.

There are two great differences in our situations, Dan. (1) Most of my family do not feel strongly enough one way or the other for my Catholicism to matter, and (2) I made the choice. They didn't. I'm the one who picked up, walked away from the "grace of Christ offered to Protestants," and took my family with me.

Those in my family who do have strong feelings about Catholicism, have expressed their feelings about my choice. And I understand how that can rattle you. I understand how isolated it can make you feel.

But at the end of the day, I don't believe they're right. That doesn't make me feel less about them as believers - perhaps because I am simply happy to be Catholic, perhaps because I've been an Evangelical and understand that my relationship with Christ was as authentic then as it is now.

It is an interesting "development" (if you can call something that Cats have always believed a development), but true unity cannot happen without absolute honesty. This is what Catholics believe. And now that we're absolutely clear about our ecclesial differences, we can move forward. How can Orthodox and Catholic relationships move forward if the Orthodox think that not even we know who we really are (or think we know)? The same is true for Protestants. They ought not be under the impression that the Catholic Church thinks everything with them is hunky-dory.

But - and this is a big, important but - just because the Catholic Church does not see Protestants as having alltheir stuff together, ecclesiastically speaking, doesn't mean that it believes they don't have "saving relationships" with Christ, or that there is no beauty or truth to be found there, or that there aren't many things that we can learn from them. That message came out of Vatican II, from my understanding, and that surely has to count for something.

12:57 PM
Anonymous said...

Maybe harmony in function, rather like parts of a body, instead of duplication of form, like every Christian's code of belief & mode of worship being in lockstep, is what ought be sought.

And, in each part extending grace for the others' differences in seeking to better understand how they function, all parts may work together more effectively for God's kingdom.

Maybe Rodney King was a philosopher in disguise!

9:26 AM

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