Posted on 01/24/2007 5:23:53 PM PST by Frank Sheed
Jan. 21, 2007
Last year, the mostly lay Archdiocesan Pastoral Council asked the Presbyteral Council to consider how the homily at Mass might be used to deepen lay people’s understanding of some contested mysteries of faith. The request arose during a discussion on what it means to be Catholic. Many of the more external signs of Catholicism, the practices people associated with life in the Church, were abandoned thirty or more years ago. The disappearance of external protections left the internal life of faith exposed to error and confusion. The priests took the time to clarify with representatives of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council just what was being asked for, and a list of six topics was finally agreed upon. The six topics that are to be discussed at some time over the course of the year, depending on the liturgical readings and season, are: the Eucharist, ordained priesthood, penance or reconciliation, marriage, the Blessed Virgin Mary and immigration.
The first impression this list, minus the sixth concern about immigration, leaves with me is that we’re back to the Protestant Reformation. At the time of the Reformation, when the visible unity of the Church was broken for doctrinal reasons, the Mass became a memorial service for most Reformers, its unity with Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary became purely “spiritual” and the objective, sacramental, substantial re-presentation of that sacrifice was denied. With the disappearance of the sacrifice of the Mass, the ordained priesthood was reduced to ministry, a function or service based only on baptism. The sacrament of Holy Orders was lost to the life of the Protestant faith communities. With the loss of ordained priesthood, the sacrament of penance or reconciliation became unnecessary, for neither the Church nor the priest mediated the penitent’s relationship to God’s mercy. Nor did the bond of marriage continue to enjoy the character of sacramentality, opening that tie to the contemporary reduction of marriage to an external, legal permission to have sex between two consenting adults. The individualism that is left when mediation disappears makes even the saints competitors with Christ, so there is no room for the Blessed Virgin Mary and other saints to pray for us or care for us. At best, they become reminders of good behavior in past history; devotion to them is classed as a form of idolatry.
There are many good people whose path to holiness is shaped by religious individualism and private interpretation of what God has revealed. They are, however, called Protestants. When an informed and committed group of Catholics, such as the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, comes up with an agenda for discussion that is, historically, Protestant, an important point is being made. Catholics assimilated to American culture, which is historically Protestant, are now living with great tension between how their culture shapes them and what their Catholic faith tells them to hold.
This is not surprising. Many writers who claim to be Catholic make names for themselves by attacking truths basic to our faith. Without the personal integrity that would bring them to admit they have simply lost the faith that comes to us from the Apostles, they reconstruct it on a purely subjective, individualistic basis and call it renewal. The Second Vatican Council wasn’t called to turn Catholics into Protestants. It was called to ask God to bring all Christ’s followers into unity of faith so that the world would believe who Christ is and live with him in his Body, the Church. The de-programming of Catholics, even in some of our schools and religious education and liturgical programs, has brought us to a moment clearly recognized by the bishops in the Synod of 1985 (when the Catechism of the Catholic Church was proposed as a partial solution to confusion about the central mysteries of faith) and acknowledged by many others today.
This issue of the Catholic New World is devoted to faith in education and to celebrating our Catholic schools. They make us proud and grateful. Dr. Nicholas Wolsonovich and others have placed Catholic identity and the handing on of the apostolic faith at the core of his reform efforts for our schools. Discussions about the identity of Catholic colleges and universities continue despite opposition by some and lethargy by others. The nature of Catholic health care has been well worked out on paper, but finds practical implementation difficult for many reasons. We could go on with cases from every Catholic institution, including parishes and dioceses themselves. The Church is and should be a very big tent. But the posts are firmly planted in divine revelation and the Church’s response to God’s self-revelation over two thousand years. It’s a communal response; the individual and his or her self-expression are never normative. That’s a hard saying in a culture shaped by Protestantism and the later Age of Enlightenment.
I’m looking forward to the next year. If we are to propose to the world our faith, we need to be better grounded in it. Proposing, as Pope John Paul II often said, is not imposing. Any proposition should be respected because of the person proclaiming it; but it should also be contested when it is false. In matters of faith, truth and falsity depend on theological warrants from history. Since history, for many Americans, is bunk and, for some academics, is only a field to be reworked at will, we’ll see how far we get this year.
What seems clear to me is that God is calling us to be authentically Catholic in our faith and also, perhaps paradoxically, Protestant in our culture. We live where we are, not in some ideal world where everything works smoothly. Those who withdraw into sectarian enclaves, even in the name of orthodoxy but without respect for or obedience to the mediators called bishops, are simply repeating the Protestant Reformation with Catholic tags. The one thing necessary is to live with discerning hearts and minds. We need to keep asking ourselves what is influencing our ways of thought, our decisions, our feelings and affections. A life of constant discernment is not always easy, but it’s joyful because it means living with the Holy Spirit, whose presence brings truth and consolation and unity.
In the Spirit, the relationships that bind us to Christ and one another remain strong. Our hope, even our optimism, remains sure no matter the challenge. We face each challenge, including those we create by our own sinfulness, not only together here and now but with all the saints and with Christ himself. May God bless you and make you holy in the community of faith and obedience and love that is his Church.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Francis Cardinal George, OMI Archbishop of Chicago
CATHOLIC BOMBSHELL ALERT! What an article!!
Important article by the Archbishop of Chicago...
You won't want to miss this thread!
Sprituality is best learned from a highly spiritual person. Who's better to teach it than ted kennedy who - at blood level of 86 proof - is spiritual to the point of spontaneous combustion? [and for all those who still doubt - his high spiritual level makes him bactericidal, besides other things. Try to remember the last time he fell sick with any bug].
Cardinal George has been rather unwell recently, with bladder cancer. I'm wondering if the Four Last Things are ever more prominent in his thoughts.
I saw this article linked to the CWNews site in an unobtrustive place. Then, I found it again on the New Liturgical Movement where a thread of 20-odd comments was going on.
I have never seen a prominent Cardinal cleric who is considered more "middle of the road" than left or right come down so hard on what he has seen and what his Archdiocesan Committee's questions portend. I believe that Cardinal George has opened the door to a discussion that has been hidden for many, many years and it is time to take him up on it. To wit: have we become more Protestant than Catholic? The fact that he is ill with bladder cancer may have focused his mind in a way that something else could not.
I will surely pray for this courageous priest.
F
good article, seems like he has a feel for what is needed, but what will he do about it?
With all due respect, that may not be the right question. He has posed the problem succinctly. Has anyone--a Cardinal--in the US done so? NO!
I think that with his wide appeal as a Cardinal who has a great deal of clout in the Vatican (like Rigali), his views will resonate incredibly. It is the fact that these issues were even voiced in the Archdiocesan Newspaper that floored me! And, if he follows this in his Archdiocese, it indicates that this, "the great unspoken", is percolating to the top of things that should be discussed. It cannot be hidden any longer. Too many souls are being placed in jeopardy.
I look forward to when he takes up the reins of the presidency of the USCCB, isn't it next year?
Does it strike you as Providential that this has come to light on the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, who had great impact on the Church?
Please God, Carolina! He has bladder cancer and has had two operations. I pray he is now in remission and can take over that position. His influence would be amazing! He is highly regarded by all.
St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Francis was a Doctor of Law before becoming a priest. He later became a bishop. Famous for his sermons and writings, especially The Introduction to the Devout Life, his gentle ways won the hearts of many. He is a Doctor of the Church.
http://thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/2007/01/schools-of-spirituality-by-cardinal.html
New Liturgical Movement with comments...
bttt
Great insights from Cardinal George. I hope this is a trend among Bishops.
This article nails our present ills succinctly. It is a wake-up call. V's wife.
Matthew
A priest friend of mine said I had to read this article. When I read it, I realized it was on FreeRepublic.
I have always admired Cardinal George. He is a brilliant individual but also one who sees Catholicism in America hurtling toward a precipe. I truly hope he can convince and lead the American Bishops to correct our present woes. I am praying for him, I still consider him my Bishop.
And, back when Conclave was held, he is papal material, if he weren't American.
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