Posted on 09/08/2002 7:30:52 PM PDT by american colleen
Yep, what a pathetic situation I've gotten myself into. Mea Culpa.
Christ himself acts through that minister in the sacraments.
Not every priest makes the effort to accentuate and set apart the words "This is my body ... this is my blood ... do this in memory of me" like the priest at my parish do.
Those are not the words and that is not the voice of the priest, however. He speaks for Christ.
Right. I think it would be a good idea to let it go. No fault, no blame on anyone. Goldenstate girl I hope you should just forget it and stick around.
Thank goodness for the comic relief of you, NYer and Loyalist.
(I do love Caravaggio's work ... the Nelson has one of his paintings and I never missed a visit any time I was there to hang out or catch a movie in the basement.)
Oh for Pete's sake. Rubbish.
I'm almost afraid to keep reading for fear you've snowed anyone into taking you seriously. Next time just gun for someone outright instead of sucker-punching the likes of Smedley and cranking it into a two-bit barroom brawl.
But I see the whole thing sort of like a spider scurrying from the switched on light. Sure, Michael Rose has been excoriated and Bruskewitz had been ignored, but they have spoken! And everyone heard! Even if only a few of us pick up the load and carry it, it is worth it. I know that we have been born in this time for a reason and a purpose, maybe Michael Rose's purpose has been fulfilled, how do we know? But that book is out there, and in my case, I've lent it to countless people who didn't have a clue before they read it (um, I didn't either, but I was suspicious). In fact, in a roundabout way, I lent it to my liberal priest, the 70s throwback pastoral associate nun in my parish and several other lefties.
Bruskewitz is there, like a thorn in the side of someone like Mahony... and Bruskewitz is young. He'll have the seminaries full of good men, just like Dolan will.
I just think the CC is antsy now... maybe we are figuring out what we can do to either thwart heterodoxy or promote orthodoxy. All it takes is a few of us.
As far as the "false hope of springtime around the corner," I don't know, I think there will be a springtime... who knows when? I can wait, not much choice anyway.
For gosh sakes, between all of us, we have most of the bishops covered, e-mail them and keep them on their toes or at least make them have a guilty conscience for doing nothing (I have Cardinal Law, and that guy is paralyzed right now).
Anyway, I think of John Paul II saying "Be not afraid" and it gives me the courage to not be afraid. Because, let's face it, the world will never be 100% Catholic.
If it was the one about St. Francis, I cut and pasted it. Can't take credit for it. But I was eating something and wanted to post it quickly, hoping to ward off the mounting frenzy and I couldn't do the html tags with one hand.
I think Smedley sank to her level on this 3rd or 4th post to GSG but he wasn't originally calling her a heretic (in the same fashion she's judging unclean priests) but only pointing out her heretical statement.
Quite frankly, I have no problems with folks who know their stuff calling a spade a spade instead of diluting in the least our theological inheritance.
Once early on, I had the audacity to call Sinkspur on the carpet for something. (I was probably dead right.) But did I get away with it? Hell no. Royalist came flying out of nowhere and read me up one side and down the other as the "tainted Catholic" I was ... no better than Sinkspur.
(I was still one foot in my "they will know we are Christians by our love" days ... apologizing for the fact the proselytization instinct just wasn't a part of my post-Vatican II Catholicism and begging off that particular duty.)
I should see if I can find that post ... classic.
Again, I'm not suggesting everyone responds as well as I to that sort of stark and unflinching correction but I saw nothing at all wrong with Smedley's original posts and proferring of a link by which GSG could better understand the danger of her temptation to believe the priest's sin trumps the Divine Presence.
She may not be a heretic in that she's not teaching her stand to others but she's certainly embraced what Smedley correctly identified as the Donatist heresy (judging from the link one can only hope she did not read before telling Smedley his post was "total BS").
- A corrupt priest would be a dirty container for the Spirit. How could the Holy Spirit act or reside there?
- I think a priest/Saint's abilities are directly related to their own purity.
- I will only go to Mass and take Sacraments from a priest I respect and know to be a good person, but that's just me.
(Pssst ... I also think it's a bit over the top to imply these sorts of statement could just as easily have come from Mother Teresa.)
I'll just note for the record you must think the same of me given that I find sitetest's posts outstanding and a breath of fresh air in this curiously ugly thread.To: sitetest You’re an self centered egomaniac and a jerk. 75 posted on 9/10/02 7:45 PM Pacific by Sock
To: goldenstategirl Why don't you stay and let the jerks leave? 76 posted on 9/10/02 7:46 PM Pacific by Sock
No cause for calling folks jerks. I trust GSG sticks around as well but I would hope that she cleans up her language and attempts to act with a maturity and objectivity proper to someone actually interested in deepening their knowledge of their own faith and love of Christ.
I'm torn over whether or not I really want to take a peek ... sounds like some things never do change!
I think we should have a thread on that sometime. I did get to the point once upon a time where I laid off responding or posting to some of my favorite atheists because my engaging them only caused them to grind their heels in even deeper to the lines in the sand they'd drawn.
It is an interesting question.
Don't you miss Royalist?
Frankly, the dust-up was a bit of childish pique which tantrum was only compounded by the bits of rotting compost some rained down from the bleachers.
I've seen much worse ... though, admittedly, such ugliness usually was the result of "Neverending" sorts of enmities.
I think folks may be wrapped a little tight of late and I don't think it's any secret that -- generally -- decorum and quality are prices this place has paid for its popularity as the signal:noise deteriorated somewhat.
It is a bit depressing, I'll admit, to see the infantile behavior one associates with most threads in the main forum infecting a strictly Catholic thread in the Religion Ghetto. I see no reason it's got to become a habit, however.
Trust folks keep their eyes on the ball in the future. Discord is a sign of end times. I'd just as soon do my part to put them off as long as possible. =)
lol ...
Narses, take heart. Don't let it get to you.
I don't know how you define the "orthodox remnant" or who gave you permission to define it. I don't think the time has arrived that any group can correctly and with the proper amount of humility, declare itself to be the remnant.
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