who says you can't have it all?

The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. -- 1 Corinthians 2:15f.

Suppose you're a typical dissenting Catholic and self-styled progressive who believes that the Roman Catholic Church has it wrong on a number of vexed teachings but will eventually come around and put things right. Why hang around in the meantime? Why not have it all -- NOW?

What -- me worry?

Take the example of Father Ken Waibel (pictured above). Once a priest of the Diocese of Lexington, he came to realize the Catholic Church was in error about homosexuality. Did he linger in a church that has God's teaching wrong? To what end? What residual good might the Catholic Church retain that couldn't be carried off and transplanted elsewhere? Father Ken took his leave from the purveyor of false and hurtful doctrine and opened the true Church, the Church that has the mind of Christ, which is located at 1350 Eastland Drive, Suite 5. In Lexington.

deliveries in rear

Let's be clear: given his premises, Ken's step is entirely reasonable. His Church responds to the spiritual longings of its adherents. You want open season sodomy? You got it. Female clergy? You got it. Rice wafer communion and self-service divorce? No problem. If it's God's will, after all, it's yours for the taking. Rent yourself a storefront and rig up some vestments and -- presto! -- you've tapped into the font of all truth, unmediated by institutional or historical encumbrances. You're mainlining the juice of the True Vine directly into the carotid artery. You've got everything you want and nothing you don't want. If the Catholic Church isn't what she claims to be, she's worse than worthless, and the quicker you uncouple yourself and hitch your wagon to the real thing, the better for all concerned.

Some progressivist might object: "Well, Rome's teaching is nonsense, but she transmits the genuine Apostolic Succession, which is necessary for valid sacraments." That's no reason to hang around. There are plenty of autocephalous bishops available whose orders even Rome admits to be valid. Forty dollars and a six-pack of Pabst'll get you all the sacramental succession you fancy.

Someone else might say, "I detest the magisterium, but I like Catholic rituals and Catholic music and all the quaint devotions." Help yourself. Take all you want. They're not copyrighted. No one's going to break down your door and stop you from replicating any rite or vestment or liturgical extravagance. You can call yourself the Pope, if it suits you, and do a Pontifical High Mass in your basement. You can squat around a campfire and denounce episcopacy as an engine of androcentric oppression. You can concoct a Ceremony of Emancipation employing a dalmatic and a Palestrina motet. Nihil, in practical terms, obstat.

I can imagine, finally, a more hesitant sort of liberal who's not quite ready to make the break: "The Church is wrong now, but I really believe she'll come around before long and get it right." But if she's wrong now, what comfort is there in the knowledge that she'll eventually come right? She could just as easily change her mind later and get it wrong again in the future, and all your frustration would go for nothing. Better to live in the truth today. If the transmitter by which the mind of Christ is communicated to the Church has broken in the past, we've no reason to think it won't break again. More to the point, how will I (or my children) know that it's broken? The Church can't tell me, or she'd be doing it today. To judge her wrong, to be certain the transmitter failed, I need access to some standard of judgment outside the Church.

Here's the point. That standard, whatever it be, is my authentic touchstone of truth. When the Church is proved wrong by my touchstone, who needs her? And when the Church is proved right by my touchstone, who needs her?

Adelphopoiesis, anyone?

An assembly of the true church, born of the spiritual intrepidity of Father Ken, having it all.

I don’t worry abut the separatists (aka heretics). The Truth will out in the end. This is why we consider Protestants to be “separated brethren” — they are genuinely seeking Truth. At least Luther & Co. were honest enough to leave the Church and start their own version instead of trying to hijack the extant Church. the fact that such heretics are in error is, in the long view, a minor detail. God will eventually bring all heresies to naught (as he is doing with the Protestants today). I suspect that within a century or so (should the Lord tarry) the heretical movements will all have collapsed under the pounding of increased persecution by non-Christians, and their members will return to cling to the Rock (Peter) as a matter of survival. In the end, there will be only the Church, united against the Anti-Church.

It’s the so-called reformers-from-within that are the real problem. Their goal is not to leave and start a “true” Church, but to subvert and change the True Church into something other than what it is. Their master knows that the Church is the Real Thing, and that if he can succeed at corrupting it entirely he will have proved our Lord a liar and will have defeated God. Of course, we know that they can never succeed in this, but even so they can lure a large number of good Catholics into a life of error and suffering in the attempt; therefore, they are to be fought.

The battle we face is akin to that of a human body resisting a viral infection. The subversive ideas of the enemy operate as a virus within the Body of Christ, hacking the “DNA” (belief system) of “cells” (individual Catholics) and using them to manufacture more bad ideas to spread throughout the Church. We must strengthen and improve our spiritual immune system — our ability to recognize and kill bad doctrine - at the parish level in order to fight this infection.

Why the parish? Because the parish is the “organ” of the Body of Christ in which the immune response is centered. In the human body, the marrow is the arsenal of immunity; there, white blood cells are produced and released into the body’s various tissue; when the body is invaded by a foreign “enemy”, such as a virus, these cells seek out, consume and destroy cells that have been subverted into producing enemy viruses by the invaders, In like manner, the local parish is where believers acre created — “cells” that are sound in doctrine and fearless in battle, seeking out and destroying bad doctrine wherever it appears. As members of the Body of Christ, we must strengthen our “immune response” by strengthening our “marrow” — the local parish.

This immune response must be created; it will not happen on its own. It begins with the anti-virus of sound doctrinal teaching — including “vaccinations” of catechesis among youth and converts — and continues with regular “booster shots” of Bible study and incisive, fearless preaching all believers. As deliberate exposure to viral materials (in the form of vaccines) is used to strengthen the body’s immune system, so must parish leaders “vaccinate” the parish immune system, testing and strengthening it by deliberate exposure to toxic doctrines. To this end priests and teachers within the parish should organize regular group discussions, publish journals, and conduct other activities in which specific doctrinal topics (life issues, philosophy, theology, etc.) can be debated and discussed by knowledgable and orthodox speakers and writers for the benefit of parish members. Above all, priests and lay leaders must create organic unity within the parish, joining together the disparate “cells” within the membership into a unified “organ” capable of acting as such. This organization of response requires that priests and leaders,establish and nurture a true sense of Christian fraternity among parish members — making the parish central to the lives and daily activities of those who comprise it. The local parish should be the first place its members turn for companionship, consolation, and spiritual and physical help in time of need, not the last; a parish must be a second family to its constituents, not just a meeting place. A parish that exists only on Sundays and days of obligation is not a parish at all. This means organizing regular parish activities (hikes, dances, festivals, etc.), establishing parish-based aid services (financial aid, counseling, Christian education, welfare, etc.), and, most important, centering the parish on the Person of Jesus Christ and His mother Mary in a serious, reverent, and regular way. Frequent Adoration, an emphasis on the Sacraments (especially Penance), and a return to sober and traditional liturgical practice are all vital if the parish is to be a healthy organic unit, capable of producing “white blood cells” to fight the infection of the enemy.

"This is nothing new, Luther and Calvin did pretty much the same thing five centuryies ago."

You really think that this is comparable???

Perhaps you should revisit exactly, what Luther's criticisms with the then corrupt Catholic Church actually were.

No one, none of us, is beyond correction, beyond reproof.

Do you doubt that? If so, I suspect that is because of the long practiced abuse of power still perpetuated unto this day, by religious *authorities* who claim that authority rests with themselves...as opposed to resting in the Word, and in Christ, and also living in each and every follower of Him, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

The apostle Peter, was at one point himself corrected by the brethren...even though it was first he himself [amongst the then Apostles] that was [supernaturally] given the doctrine that;
Christ's sacrifice, was for all of humanity.

If that were not true, there would be no Catholic Church, at all!!! Salvation would be for the Jews, alone.

Comparing this modern "it's ok to be a homo" heresy, with Luther's condemnations of what was then, certain errors of the Roman Catholic leadership, is gross error, on your part!

Knock it off!

Perhaps you should revisit exactly, what Luther's criticisms with the then corrupt Catholic Church actually were.

Please demonstrate a single OFFICIAL Church policy any time in history as being "corrupt." (P.S. The fact that your Protestant denomination disagrees with something DOES NOT make it corrupt).

Comparing this modern "it's ok to be a homo" heresy, with Luther's condemnations of what was then, certain errors of the Roman Catholic leadership, is gross error, on your part!

Of Luther's 95 Theses, can you please demonstrate for us a single error that was an ACTUAL official practice of the Church.

Knock it off!

Luther didn't like certain Biblical truths so he removed them from scripture. This man thinks homosexuals should be married, women should be ordained, etc., so he pretends it's okay. Not a lot of difference.

Please demonstrate a single OFFICIAL Church policy any time in history as being "corrupt." (P.S. The fact that your Protestant denomination disagrees with something DOES NOT make it corrupt).

Of Luther's 95 Theses, can you please demonstrate for us a single error that was an ACTUAL official practice of the Church.

Ahh...so by that rationale, as long as the United States federal government doesn't make something "official" (by what definition is something made "official" anyway?), they can do whatever the hell they want and nobody is within rights to take them to task over it?

Luther didn't like certain Biblical truths so he removed them from scripture.

Can you please cite for us which "biblical truths" Luther allegedly removed from Scripture?

This man thinks homosexuals should be married, women should be ordained, etc., so he pretends it's okay. Not a lot of difference.

You'll find this one listed under "association fallacy." Good grief...we may need a separate corollary for Irving's Law for this one if it goes any further :)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.