Posted on 03/05/2018 7:51:35 AM PST by Salvation
Sunday at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, with hundreds of invited married couples, Cardinal Donald Wuerl presented the Archdiocese of Washington’s pastoral plan to more fully implement Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. The complete text of the plan is available here and additional resources can be found on this website: adw.org/amorislaetitia.
The purpose of the pastoral plan is to achieve the overarching goal of Amoris Laetitia, which is to strengthen marriage and family. It emphasizes effective marriage preparation, support for married couples, marriage enrichment, and assistance for couples struggling in their marriages. The plan speaks to teaching the faithful more effectively on the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, the need for conscience formation, and the overall need for formation in the Gospel. There are also helpful sections directed toward working with people in irregular situations so as to address their problems and keep them close to the heart of Christ and the Church. The Tribunal processes of the Archdiocese remain as they have been in the past for the proper resolution of marriage cases.
Before an in-depth discussion of the plan, a short aside is in order: While nearly all of the commentary on Amoris Laetitia has focused one or two narrow matters pertaining to a couple of footnotes or to Chapter 8, almost to the point of ignoring the rest, the pastoral plan correctly understands that the exhortation is much, much broader in scope. It is this larger part to which the Cardinal’s plan is devoted, while also attesting that there is no change in Church teaching.
What this plan is about is formation in the Lord’s teaching and grace as well as setting an ever-stronger foundation for marriage and family. Cardinal Wuerl notes in his own blog, The parish has a central role in making clear the Gospel vision for marriage and family life. Indeed, this must be our crucial work going forward, both as an Archdiocese and in our individual parishes.
I would like to reflect on this solid, pastoral plan, by reflecting on it in three ways: A Gospel Picture, A Growing Problem, a Going Plan.
A Gospel Picture – In the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus sees a woman of Samaria coming to a well to draw water. As the Lord who created her, He has always known her and loved her. Before He ever formed her in her mother’s womb He knew her (see Jer. 1:5) and knew everything she would ever do. Indeed, every one of her days was written in His book before one of them ever came to be (see Psalm 139). Yes, He knows her and loves her.
The woman is not named because she may well be you or someone you know. Yes, her story is our story.
The woman comes to the well thirsty. She may be an outcast since she comes alone and at a time of day when others would not be there. Whatever her pain, whatever her sins, whatever shortcomings may have caused her to be outcast and alone, Jesus seeks her. There’s an old hymn that says, “He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.”
In daring fashion, Jesus, a man, speaks to a woman in public. This was not done in those days. He also reaches across racial and ethnic divides, appealing to their shared thirst. In her own pain and fear she at first scoffs that a Jewish man would speak to her, a Samaritan and a woman. In His patience and mercy Jesus does not give up. Slowly, even tenderly, He draws her to a deeper encounter and helps her discover her true thirst.
At a critical moment she says, Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty. Here is the moment for which Jesus longed and thirsted: her assent, her response in faith, however nascent. Her assent opens the first door to the living waters Jesus wants to give.
There is an obstacle, though
“Go call your husband and come back.”
The woman answered and said to him,
“I do not have a husband.”
Jesus answered her,
“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’
For you have had five husbands,
and the one you have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true.”
Note that there is no rejection in Jesus’ tone, but neither does He ignore her marital situation or wave it off as if it were of no account. Like a good physician, He sees this as likely at the heart of much of her pain and her difficulty in discovering her truer thirst. Something here needs healing, needs to be addressed, so that the living waters can flow and satisfy.
How exactly Jesus dealt with her situation is not clear. Whatever happened was between them. Remember that the Gospel accounts often present in a focused way what for us usually takes much longer. For example, Jesus healed lepers in a moment and cast out demons by a mere command. In contrast, our healing and the casting out of our demons takes time and an ongoing encounter with the Lord through His Body, the Church.
In this Gospel then we see a picture of what the Church has always done and must continue to do. Whatever our hurts and whatever our histories, the Church—the living, active presence of Jesus Christ in the world—must continue to seek those who thirst and draw them to Christ, the source of the true water for which they really thirst. Some bring struggles with sin, addiction, weakness, and other afflictions. All of us are sinners who need ongoing healing. We often seek love try to satisfy our thirsts in the wrong ways and in the wrong places. The role of the Church is not to dismiss sin and struggles as if they were of no account, but to help the faithful, through God’s graces, to work through struggles and overcome obstacles so that the healing waters can flow.
A Growing Problem – It is no secret that marriage and the family are in crisis. (See some sobering statistics here: Marriage Troubles.)
The culture is increasingly poisonous to marriage and family: secularism, materialism, the sexual revolution, mobility and rootlessness, the demise of the extended family, the need for two incomes, suffocating college debt, promiscuity, movies that emphasize dysfunction rather than virtue, pornography, ideological colonization, and individualism.
The biblical vision of marriage, family, and sexuality has been significantly eroded in the minds and consciences of many people today. This is true in our parishes as well. The Church cannot remain aloof or disinterested in the walking wounded, who greatly resemble the woman at the well. In his blog, Cardinal Wuerl beautifully notes,
So many people think that if their own lives look more like the woman at the well than the Holy Family that there may not be a place in the Church for them. That is simply not true.
As Jesus looked to the woman of Samaria with love and sought to draw her to the living water of the Spirit, so the Church looks to us with love and seeks to more deeply immerse us in the living waters of Holy Spirit and the Lord’s truth, which alone will set us free.
Simply wishing people well or welcoming them without providing real, substantive help is not enough. Jesus did not brush aside the woman’s painful marital past at the well. He raised the issue with her and (albeit in a hidden way). He ministered to her in a way that allowed her to leave her water jar (a symbol of her reliance on the world) and run joyfully to summon others to Jesus.
The Church, as Christ’s active presence in this world, can do no less—hence the Cardinal’s pastoral plan.
A Going Plan – The Pastoral Plan of the Archdiocese of Washington is a combination of pastoral practices and the assembling of resources to help parishes and individuals form and care for one another in today’s world. The Cardinal sets forth “the need for more adequate catechesis and formation, not only of engaged and married couples and their children, but also priests, deacons, seminarians, consecrated religious, catechists, teachers, social workers, medical professionals and other pastoral workers.”
The Cardinal also speaks to the need for the proper formation of conscience through patient and careful teaching by the Church and careful listening and discernment by the faithful.
There are some people today who (often with erroneous consciences) uphold objective sin as if it were part of the Christian ideal or who want to propose something other than what the Church teaches. They should in no way presume to teach or preach this to others. The Church must patiently and clearly help them, and everyone, to listen once more to the Gospel message and its call to conversion.
The Church must consistently seek more effective ways to reach people, especially in this age of secularism and detachment from traditional Christian and biblical terms and vision. We cannot simply presume that others share our premises or understand our terms and distinctions. The Cardinal notes, “The act of accompaniment includes fidelity to the teaching as well as awareness of how the teaching is being received or even able to be perceived.”
The Cardinal exhorts pastors: “The underlying moral principle which should inform both that personal discernment and the priest’s ministry is that a person whose situation in life is objectively contrary to moral teaching can still love and grow in the faith, he or she can still take steps in the right direction and benefit from God’s mercy and grace while receiving the assistance of the Church.”
Our job is to assist in the ongoing formation of conscience with respectful, patient, and clear counsel.
Remember that the Church has long reached out to people in invalid marriages through the Tribunal and annulment process. The Church and your local pastor stand ready to assist you if you are currently in a marriage not recognized by the Church. It is often possible to resolve the obstacles that stand in the way of the living water of the sacraments. Please seek advice from your parish or the Archdiocese. An annulment is not a “Catholic divorce.” It is rooted in Jesus’ very words. There is no room to detail all of that in this post, but I have written in more depth on the subject here: What is an annulment?
The pastoral plan then goes on to exhort parishes and parishioners with practical advice. The Cardinal addresses pastors, parish leaders, parish staff, catechists, youth, engaged couples, newly married couples, young adults, young families, older couples, and families in special circumstances (e.g., military families, interfaith and ecumenical families).
The plan concludes with references to dozens of practical resources and programs in the areas of formation, marriage preparation, marriage enrichment, and help for those in troubled marriages.
Some may wonder whether a plan such as this will simply be announced with great fanfare only to end up on the shelf. I would point out that Cardinal Wuerl and the Archdiocese of Washington have a well-established record of following through on pastoral plans. Our Synod, conducted in 2014, has been carefully implemented and has resulted in many structural changes and ongoing initiatives that were sought by the members of the Synod. The Cardinal’s recent pastoral on racism has resulted in a standing committee to shepherd its implementation.
I am convinced that this pastoral plan will also bear much fruit through consistent and persistent action, ongoing review, and accountability. There is much to do—marriage and the family need our focused attention. It is our mission and goal to root the world once again in God’s beautiful vision. It will take time and great effort from all in the Church. We must pray and we must act. The pastoral plan can unite and focus our efforts. May God’s grace and blessing be upon us.
Yeah -— if David quit polygamy.
Forget polygamy....what if it were just him and Bathsheba?
David's 8 wives:
Michal
Ahinoam
Abigail
Maachah
Haggith
Abital
Eglah
Bathsheba
David's 18+ children:
Amnon
Chileab
Absalom
Adonijah
Shephatiah
Ithream
Shammua
Shobab
Nathan
Solomon
Ibhar
Elishua
Nepheg
Japhia
Elishama
Eliada
Eliphalet
Tamar
Naturally, anybody who repents of sin can be forgiven: repents with the intention of actually turn away from the sinful acts with the Lord's strength and grace.
The Lord accepts the broken-hearted. We know that. All of them.
So to answer your (hypothetical) question:
Rent a bus and bring the whole repentant House of David to the baptismal font!
Point of curiosity: in *your* church --- assuming we're talking about a hypothetical David-on-earth, not David-in-heaven --- how many wives could the newly-baptized-Christian David keep, and which one(s)?
Because Rome thinks it's holier than God?
And what would you demand he do?
DIVORCE his other wives?
In which situation would he not be sinning?
It sure seems that the Catholic church needs to learn this from God.....
Matthew 9:10-13 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said,“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
God forgives and FORGETS our sin. The Catholic church still holds it to their account.
** The Catholic church still holds it to their account. **
?? about your statement??
When we avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Penance/Confession God forgives and FORGETS our sins.
Then why doesn’t the Catholic church?
You might want to share that with some of your fellow Roman Catholics.
They seem to want to keep the sin in front of someone.
Here's the rule we apply to all our polygamous converts in Africa: If the first marriage was valid (meaning not irregular for some other reason such as bride being underage or not consenting), that first wife is your one-and-only honest wedded wife and the rest are not.
Given that the children from the multiple women are the man's natural children, he still has an obligation to love and provide for them and contribute to raising them. But wives 2, 3, 4, ...n should be free to find other men to marry. On a one-to-one basis.
Jesus called second-marriages adulterous, as you know. Three times, in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
I don't particularly like that word, actually, but that's the word He used.
"In which situation would he not be sinning?"
Abstaining from the beds of the other multiple women is not a sin. Th other women were not true wives. Again, that's according to Jesus, who taught exclusive monogamy, and said one-man-one-woman-one-flesh marriage was God's law "from the beginning".
"It sure seems that the Catholic church needs to learn this from God."
That's who we did learn it from: Jesus. From whom did YOU learn monogamy?
"God forgives and FORGETS our sin. The Catholic church still holds it to their account."
In this you are mistaken, metmom. All sins, even adultery, can be repented, forgiven, and then thought of no more. You are washed clean by God's forgiveness, for He DOES both forgive the repentant and give them strength not to return to that sin. The adulterous person, being forgiven, *stops* his/her adultery from that day forward.
Or do you think a person can persist more or less continuously in adultery, and still be considered repentant?
If --- to make it into a totally fictitious situation, not the one recounted in the Bible --- David has just one living wife, and that is Bathsheba, and she has only one living husband (David) then no problem, they can both become Catholics. They could enter the Catholic Church by Baptism, as everybody does, and their marriage could be convalidated (recognized by the Church) after their baptism.
If (as in their actual marital situation as documented in the Bible) Bathsheba AND SEVEN OTHER WOMEN are claiming to be David's wives, he'd have to faithful to his first wife on the basis of monogamous marriage.
The Catholic Church doesn't allow the practice of polygamy.
Does yours? How would your church handle polygamy? Would it be OK?
Would they be allowed communion?
Forget the Catholic Church. If someone murdered the husband of the woman he wanted to marry, in what church would the clergy perform the ceremony?
You could probably find one, no doubt, but most would decline.
God did not require David give her up, and in fact the bloodline of Christ goes back through Bathsheba. Honest repentance washes you clean. A clergyman who knew these two well enough to know the depths of their sorrow over what they did, might well agree to perform the ceremony. But most would not.
Granted that God seems to have looked the other way on the issue of multiple marriage in that era... but no orthodox Christian church will knowingly perform the ceremony for someone in a multiple relationship. So once you consider murder and multiple marriage, maybe David isn’t the best example for us.
Still, God uses imperfect people, and as was pointed out, despite his flaws his psalms have pride of place in Old Testament Scripture, and no one doubts David’s intimate walk with God. But doing his umpteenth marriage would still be a bridge too far for most pastors.
Now, if he wanted to marry Jonathan, there are probably some churches that would perform that ceremony... :)
I’m only asking about a situation where it’s just David and Bathsheba....no other wives are in the picture.
I can’t say that we’ve ever had a potential member who is married in a different culture and has multiple wives apply for membership.
So your solution is for the man to divorce them, eh?
And who gets the kids?
Don't do that. If you're just going to adopt an accusatory tone and make judgments against the honesty of my intent, it drains my motivation to even try.
So I say again: concerning David and Bathsheba: if they were right here in 2018 and intending to be received into the Catholic Church, we'd have to look carefully into their marital status. Since David lives polygamously, that would have to stop because the Catholic Church does not accept polygamy.
If we assume his partners have likewise been time-transported into the 21st century, David would have to make a choice, a clear yes or no: if he's willing to give up his plural partners and commit to his one true wedded wife --- that is, his first wife, forsaking all others --- then he could become a Catholic.
IF on the other hand, we assume that nobody has been time-transported into the 21st century except David and Bathsheba, all their previous wives, husbands, etc. being dead and in the grave for centuries --- then I assume they would be widow and widower with respect to other spouses, and free to marry if they wish --- as well as free to make a profession of faith in Christ and be received into the Catholic Church.
In other words, they can't enter the Church as parties to some kind of plural marriage. They have to be either truly single, or truly and monogamously married, with no other living spouses or semi-spouses out there.
In 1000 BC, David's time, polygamy and divorce/remarriage were both tolerated by Mosaic law. In the New Testament Church, according to Christ's precept, this is no longer permitted.
Abstaining from marital relations with multiple women does not mean abandoning the children.
No murders?
To: Mrs. Don-o
Forget polygamy....what if it were just him and Bathsheba?
42 posted on 3/6/2018 10:57:38 AM by ealgeone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies | Report Abuse]
Hence the reason why I suggested you were dodging the question. You can follow the remainder of the thread.
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