Wednesday, October 26, 2016

There he goes again ...

I just saw this article by Edward Pentin: "Pope Francis: Rigid People Are Sick" (National Catholic Register, October 24, 2016). In this article, convention Catholics who insist on believing and practicing what the Church has always taught are told by the Holy Father that they suffer from a "pathological sickness" which renders them "heretics, not Catholics," that they are advocates of a "self-absorbed promethean neopelagianism," and need to loosen up and embrace the God of mercy whose gifts are "meekness," "benevolence," and "forgiveness," but "never rigidity."

I couldn't help thinking of Matthew 5:17-20 and wondering what the Pope of Mercy would have to say about the words of Jesus:
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
Why is the Gospel made to appear in the words of some Church leaders like a wax nose, which can be bent easily to serve the whims of prevailing ideologies?

[Hat tip to K.J.]
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:02 PM

    I do not know how rigid I actually am, but I certainly AM sick of some things.

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  2. JM10:25 PM

    It is the era of the Argentines, the African-Americans, and the Nouvelles. We might as well get used to it. Emotion is the new decisive element. Logic is Thomist and passe. The last two centuries of papal pronouncements? Forget them. Doctrine develops. Anglos are uptight. Negroes can have the priesthood now. PS. Oscar Romero sits just under the Virgin. And Rob Bell is sort of right.See? Good. Now go give blood and boogie for HRC. Time to fight Brest Cancer and HIV. Life should be comfy if not eternal. PS. Harvey Milk rocks.

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  3. Michael Leahy2:12 PM

    I would put my hopes on the 'Negroes'. Cardinal Sarah and so very many of his fellow-Africans seem to be our staunchest upholders of orthodoxy. The same seems to be the case in the Anglican community. It seems to be Europe and countries of closest European descent that are going most crazy. For example Argentina is greatly apostate but Mexico, a nation with a far higher proportion of indigenous people, remains much more orthodox.

    The Enlightenment was a European catastrophe and it would be unsurprising if we turn out to be the chief victims of our own hubris and folly.

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  4. Chris Garton-Zavesky3:48 PM

    In a world of argument based on emotion and rhetoric divorced from logic, reason and long-standing practice, we should still be logical, reasonable, faithful and traditional FOR OUR OWN GOOD. If the world is crazy (or malicious) our imitation of that craziness (or malice) does not make us virtuous.

    ReplyDelete