Posted on 11/13/2010 10:37:35 AM PST by Salvation
The video at the bottom is of Archbishop Timothy Dolan speaking on Dorothy Day. It is a clip of a longer sermon you can see here: Archbishop Dolan on Dorothy Day
In the Sermon the Archbishop speaks of Dorothy Days love for the Church. He remarks that there are many people today who want Christ without the Church. For Dorothy Day and for us: No can do. Christ is found with his Church: warts and all, sinners and saints, even me, Oh Lord! Jesus Christ was found among sinners, such that it scandalized many. He was crucified between two thieves. He was found in very questionable company. Do you get it? You wont find Christ by walking away from the company he keeps.
The hatred of the Church is growing in our culture and many of the ring leaders claim to know Christ and think they can find him only in purer air, a room of their own choosing. But Christ is found where he is found. The Pharisees expected to find the Messiah on their terms. But Jesus was found where he was found. He was not from the educated in Jerusalem, but of the peasants in Galilee. He spoke with a Galilean hick accent and walked among the poor, the nobodies, the sinners, the uninformed and unenlightened.
Today, the menu is a little different. In Jesus time it was a religious aristocracy that sneered at his followers. Today, the world is secular and those who sneer see believers as simple-minded, unscientific, unenlightened and intolerant. And we are sinners to be sure. Some of the charges against us are true. Actual sinners are we. The Church is a hospital for sick people who need a doctor. Some of the other charges of our sinfulness are less deserved: that we are collectively intolerant, hateful, bigoted, etc.
But despite all this, I know by faith that this is where Christ is found. Those who want Jesus without his Church not only seek him in vain, they risk reinventing him altogether. He is found where he is found.
Dorothy Days Witness and help But what of the Churchs imperfections? In the video Archbishop Dolan reminds us: Ecclesia semper reformanda (The Church is always reforming). Its people like Dorothy Day (and many of you) through whom God works this work. Dorothy Day was very sober about the Churchs imperfections and spoke of them often. She was a prophet and true prophets know how to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable (and we are all in both categories from time to time).
What I most like about Dorothy Day is that I knew she loved the Church and because of that I trust her. I have found that, in order to stretch my boundaries and be truly challenged, I need to trust my teachers and leaders. Its people I can trust who lead me to stretch my horizons. Knowing that Dorothy Day so loved the Church, the liturgy and the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament makes be trust her judgment. She, like Jesus, was not easily categorized. She will not simply conform to earthly categories for she had heard from heaven.
Id like to say a little more of Dorothy in weeks to come on the blog for I think she is one who can help get both wings of the Church flying together. There is a tendency for the Church to divide out between the moral issues, and the social issues. But it takes two wings to fly, and Dorothy Day is one of those who show how it can be done. Allow me a little time to get a few thoughts together. And some of you might also point me in the right direction with suggestions.
For today simply this reflection: Dorothy Day loved the Church. And any true reformer of the Church must love her and her Lord and Spouse, Jesus.
Some of my favorite Dorothy Day quotes are:
Enjoy this brief reflection by Archbishop Dolan.
CHRIST IS ALL, AND HE IS MINE
Why should I fear the darkest hour,
Or tremble at the tempters power;
When Jesus is my Might Tower?
Christ is all, and He is mine.
Tho hard the fight,
Why quit the field;
Why should I shrink, why should I yield;
When Jesus is my Mighty Shield?
Christ is all, and He is mine.
When creature comforts fade and die,
The world may weep, but why should ?
Jesus still lives, and He is nigh.
Christ is all, and He is mine.
I know not what may soon betide,
Or how my wants may be supplied;
But Jesus knows, and will provide.
Christ is all, and He is mine.
Tho faint my prayers, and cold my love,
My steadfast hope shall not remove;
While Jesus intercedes above.
Christ is all, and He is mine.
Against me, earth and hell combine;
But on my side, is Power Divine.
In the darkest hour, His glory shines.
Christ is all, and He is mine.
Dorothy Day
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Colossians 1:18 And he [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18 CLEARLY TEACHES CORRECTLY that the Church consists of ALL believers in Christ, and that he [Christ] is the head of the body, THE CHURCH, which is HIS Church, not man's church.
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
John: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Our salvation is not dependent on the poor, neither can the poor be a ransom on the Cross for the forgiveness of my sins.
Me, too, Dorothy! When I'm having a terrible time, there are two things I do: clean house, and read the psalms. The psalms have everything a soul wants to say.
13.Dont worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth.
That’s an important concept for parents. Your children are their own individual people, and how they turn out is some of your influence, and a lot more of their own initiative.
>>Those who want Jesus without his Church not only seek him in vain, they risk reinventing him altogether.<<
Those who would attempt to limit Jesus to on organized religion are walking on dangerous ground.
some parents should remember that when they try to own their kids...those kids are not yours for the rest of their lives...give advice when asked, stay out of their marriage and love your grandchldren, they are your reward for having their parents.....
I read an article about her once. It was, as I recollect, in Sojourners.
It’s very stressful when they’re being dopes!
It's in the semantics. She would feed the poor and cloth them for Jesus. She had soup kitchens and rooms for the least of these. It's over their heads. She would not argue Christ. She would show Christ by action. If you do not understand. It's catholic view point article.
yep, you need the patience of a saint at times....The only thing that got my kids alive through their teens was prayer for patience, it worked sometimes..:O)
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