Allow me to assure you, before you click this off, that this is not another analysis of the Pope's recent exhortation, "Amoris Laetitia." There are other people of much higher education and understanding of theology of the Church that can argue over whether or not the Pontiff just ended Catholicism as we know it, or delivered a much needed home run on the subject of the family. I haven't even finished reading it yet, but I like it so far. I'm going to to reference the document a bit and also try to put it in the larger context of the Jubilee Year of Mercy and why Pope Francis' approach is perhaps what we need at this critical point in the history of humanity and our journey to the Lord.
It greatly dismays me (but doesn't surprise me at all) to already see critiques and nit picking at this recent exhortation. I've seen everything from the obligatory and very sad "he's undermined Catholic moral teaching!" to people commenting on his writing style and grammar. (No, I'm not going to link to these) Of course the secular media is going to completely misinterpret and purposely distort everything the Pope wrote, as well as pick out the half sentences and incomplete thoughts that best fit their own ideological narrative. We can't exactly give a whole lot of credence to what the New York Times, Fox News, and Jim Bob's Daily Dose O' News has to say on the matter. That is why it is even more disheartening when I try to go to actual Catholic (or at least self-described Catholic) websites and I see the same reactions, but with a little bit more fine tuned animosity given that they may know a little bit of theology or Church teachings. All of a sudden everyone claims to be more Catholic than the Pope.
It is no secret that this Pope has found himself in a swirl of controversy since first he climbed into St Peter's chair. Has he really been the cause of this controversy, or have we allowed an anti-Catholic, secular media to dictate to us the terms and the paradigms through which we view the successor of the Rock on whom Christ built His Church? I think it's a little closer to home, and by that I mean within the Church. We have allowed our pride and false gods, that being our own interpretation of the Faith and of Sacred Tradition, to cloud our judgement and to give us the silly notion that the Pope should be there to tell us what we want to hear. It is a far removed cry from humility to think that the Pope is merely there to reaffirm our own interpretation of Tradition, Scripture, and overall Catholicism instead of offering our humble obedience in recognition of the fact that Jesus put the Pope, along with His Apostles, there for a reason, and that the teaching authority lies with them. Without acknowledging the structured teaching authority of the Magisterium, all you have is another version of Protestantism, where you can just go start your own church and claim to know the truth. (Before all of you Canon Lawyers get all up in arms, I realize that an Apostolic Exhortation is not completely binding as far as flat out obedience. It is an encouragement to live in a certain manner. I still maintain that we owe him the benefit of the doubt simply by nature of his teaching authority)
I was recently at a daily Mass in which the priest gave a great homily which inspired my line of thinking for this blog post. He mentioned that there are people in the parish and beyond who nit pick the Pope and complain about the things that he does. They pick and choose and are very negative and critical of everything he does. He said that we wouldn't go up to a priest and tell him that we don't like the way he says Mass. The priest, and the Pope, are anointed by God! The Pope is the head of a very large world-wide religion. This priest said from the pulpit, "What do you know? Who are you to pick and choose at the Pope?" He wasn't angry or yelling, mind you, but he was emphatic. He is right. Who are we to sit here and critique everything this Pope says and does because it doesn't conform to our own version of Catholicism? What do we know? Are we more Catholic than the Pope? Did the Holy Spirit choose any of us to be the Vicar of Christ on Earth? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no...
The next thing which this priest said in his homily was even better than the first part. What he said gets to the heart of this whole matter with Pope Francis and the reason why so many so-called traditionalists and whatnot are unable to swallow some of his statements and views, despite the fact that Pope Francis has not once reversed or undermined any of the fundamentals of Catholic moral theology. This priest said that Catholicism is about a relationship with a person. "Here, say this prayer every day for the rest of your life and you will get lots of graces." NO! That is not what Catholicism is about. It is about a personal, deep, and intimate encounter and relationship with the person of Jesus Christ our Lord, of whose death we are all guilty and yet free through His unfathomable Mercy. The Mass, Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Sacraments are all vehicles through which we encounter the person of Jesus. It all points to Him.
We must not let our Traditions, music, or even the manner in which we experience the Sacred Liturgy become a false god that impedes our ability to receive grace. When we make a false god out of the trappings of our religion, our pride gets in the way which results in our inability to be told anything different about the way in which we perceive our own Catholicism which ultimately becomes nothing more than a superstition. The Mass itself can become a false god when the manner in which we perform the Liturgy becomes more important than the experience with Christ it facilitates. We cannot allow ourselves to become like the Pharisees who became so obsessed with following the letter of the law that they were unable to see God's people.
The message of Mercy is of so much importance in a day and age where more and more people are finding themselves in deep, dark situations that are far away from God and His saving grace. Pope Francis' exhortation on the family comes at a critical junction when the nuclear family, the building block of all civilization is being ripped apart and redefined in some nebulous entity that is subject to the whims and desires of the adults involved. Is this a time for a dogmatic crackdown, a time for the Church to collectively turn up her nose and scoff at all those sinners? Or is it a time to reach out and say that Jesus died for them too and wants to shower them with His redeeming love? The Pope did not overturn any ex cathedra teachings in his exhortation, but his compassion and mercy ring loud and clear throughout. How many people out there have children through several other partners, how many Catholics have found themselves divorced and shunned by their own Church? The Pope didn't say that divorced Catholics that remarry are all of a sudden a-ok, but he did say that when that second marriage is faithful and has children, it creates a situation that is more complicated than merely coming in and condemning them and turning them away.
Our worldwide society is careening towards a singular disaster. We are mired in distortion and sin. Now is the time for God's Mercy to be proclaimed. Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. We can find a new way to present the timeless Truths and teachings of the Church in a way that is inviting and merciful. We have all sinned. We have all fallen short. This Pope wants to reach out not only to Catholics, but to the world and proclaim God's love. We have to get our hands dirty. When we turn our noses up and coldly cite some Church teaching about how terrible someone is, we are abdicating our moral responsibility to be the light of the world. By doing so, we shirk our responsibility to proclaim the "Good News" and to invite people in to a full relationship with Christ and into a life that is truly free and joyful. As Jesus said, "Let the one of you who is without sin cast the first stone." I can guarantee you that it isn't going to be me.
It greatly dismays me (but doesn't surprise me at all) to already see critiques and nit picking at this recent exhortation. I've seen everything from the obligatory and very sad "he's undermined Catholic moral teaching!" to people commenting on his writing style and grammar. (No, I'm not going to link to these) Of course the secular media is going to completely misinterpret and purposely distort everything the Pope wrote, as well as pick out the half sentences and incomplete thoughts that best fit their own ideological narrative. We can't exactly give a whole lot of credence to what the New York Times, Fox News, and Jim Bob's Daily Dose O' News has to say on the matter. That is why it is even more disheartening when I try to go to actual Catholic (or at least self-described Catholic) websites and I see the same reactions, but with a little bit more fine tuned animosity given that they may know a little bit of theology or Church teachings. All of a sudden everyone claims to be more Catholic than the Pope.
It is no secret that this Pope has found himself in a swirl of controversy since first he climbed into St Peter's chair. Has he really been the cause of this controversy, or have we allowed an anti-Catholic, secular media to dictate to us the terms and the paradigms through which we view the successor of the Rock on whom Christ built His Church? I think it's a little closer to home, and by that I mean within the Church. We have allowed our pride and false gods, that being our own interpretation of the Faith and of Sacred Tradition, to cloud our judgement and to give us the silly notion that the Pope should be there to tell us what we want to hear. It is a far removed cry from humility to think that the Pope is merely there to reaffirm our own interpretation of Tradition, Scripture, and overall Catholicism instead of offering our humble obedience in recognition of the fact that Jesus put the Pope, along with His Apostles, there for a reason, and that the teaching authority lies with them. Without acknowledging the structured teaching authority of the Magisterium, all you have is another version of Protestantism, where you can just go start your own church and claim to know the truth. (Before all of you Canon Lawyers get all up in arms, I realize that an Apostolic Exhortation is not completely binding as far as flat out obedience. It is an encouragement to live in a certain manner. I still maintain that we owe him the benefit of the doubt simply by nature of his teaching authority)
I was recently at a daily Mass in which the priest gave a great homily which inspired my line of thinking for this blog post. He mentioned that there are people in the parish and beyond who nit pick the Pope and complain about the things that he does. They pick and choose and are very negative and critical of everything he does. He said that we wouldn't go up to a priest and tell him that we don't like the way he says Mass. The priest, and the Pope, are anointed by God! The Pope is the head of a very large world-wide religion. This priest said from the pulpit, "What do you know? Who are you to pick and choose at the Pope?" He wasn't angry or yelling, mind you, but he was emphatic. He is right. Who are we to sit here and critique everything this Pope says and does because it doesn't conform to our own version of Catholicism? What do we know? Are we more Catholic than the Pope? Did the Holy Spirit choose any of us to be the Vicar of Christ on Earth? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no...
The next thing which this priest said in his homily was even better than the first part. What he said gets to the heart of this whole matter with Pope Francis and the reason why so many so-called traditionalists and whatnot are unable to swallow some of his statements and views, despite the fact that Pope Francis has not once reversed or undermined any of the fundamentals of Catholic moral theology. This priest said that Catholicism is about a relationship with a person. "Here, say this prayer every day for the rest of your life and you will get lots of graces." NO! That is not what Catholicism is about. It is about a personal, deep, and intimate encounter and relationship with the person of Jesus Christ our Lord, of whose death we are all guilty and yet free through His unfathomable Mercy. The Mass, Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Sacraments are all vehicles through which we encounter the person of Jesus. It all points to Him.
We must not let our Traditions, music, or even the manner in which we experience the Sacred Liturgy become a false god that impedes our ability to receive grace. When we make a false god out of the trappings of our religion, our pride gets in the way which results in our inability to be told anything different about the way in which we perceive our own Catholicism which ultimately becomes nothing more than a superstition. The Mass itself can become a false god when the manner in which we perform the Liturgy becomes more important than the experience with Christ it facilitates. We cannot allow ourselves to become like the Pharisees who became so obsessed with following the letter of the law that they were unable to see God's people.
The message of Mercy is of so much importance in a day and age where more and more people are finding themselves in deep, dark situations that are far away from God and His saving grace. Pope Francis' exhortation on the family comes at a critical junction when the nuclear family, the building block of all civilization is being ripped apart and redefined in some nebulous entity that is subject to the whims and desires of the adults involved. Is this a time for a dogmatic crackdown, a time for the Church to collectively turn up her nose and scoff at all those sinners? Or is it a time to reach out and say that Jesus died for them too and wants to shower them with His redeeming love? The Pope did not overturn any ex cathedra teachings in his exhortation, but his compassion and mercy ring loud and clear throughout. How many people out there have children through several other partners, how many Catholics have found themselves divorced and shunned by their own Church? The Pope didn't say that divorced Catholics that remarry are all of a sudden a-ok, but he did say that when that second marriage is faithful and has children, it creates a situation that is more complicated than merely coming in and condemning them and turning them away.
Our worldwide society is careening towards a singular disaster. We are mired in distortion and sin. Now is the time for God's Mercy to be proclaimed. Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. We can find a new way to present the timeless Truths and teachings of the Church in a way that is inviting and merciful. We have all sinned. We have all fallen short. This Pope wants to reach out not only to Catholics, but to the world and proclaim God's love. We have to get our hands dirty. When we turn our noses up and coldly cite some Church teaching about how terrible someone is, we are abdicating our moral responsibility to be the light of the world. By doing so, we shirk our responsibility to proclaim the "Good News" and to invite people in to a full relationship with Christ and into a life that is truly free and joyful. As Jesus said, "Let the one of you who is without sin cast the first stone." I can guarantee you that it isn't going to be me.