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| May be one???? |
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If you follow church news you may have noticed how the Vatican is stuck in a bad situation. In recent history a conservative group called the Society of St. Pius X is at odds with the Vatican; at the same time they want to be in union with the Vatican. The Vatican on the other hand tossed the group out hoping that would somehow inspire them to "come home". Earlier this year Benedict lifted the excommunication because of his own vested conservative interests and without due regard to the church as a whole. When Benedict learned more about the group he reinstated the group's excommunication - he threw them out.
Okay.
Now that was confusing enough but here's the problem as I see it:
1. The Vatican stated that group's "ministers do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church...until the doctrinal questions are clarified, the Society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers...do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church."
2. That argument sounds vaguely familiar. Let's look:
4:1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sad'ducees came upon them, 4:2 annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 4:3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the morrow, for it was already evening. 4:4 But many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 4:5 On the morrow their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, 4:6 with Annas the high priest and Ca'iaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?"
The Vatican's premise concerning the Society of St. Pius X is the same as the Sadducees against the Apostles. But the Apostles stood their ground and proclaimed the Lord Jesus in the midst of that persecution because they had a mission.
3. After the Apostles had established the first Christian communities along came Saul, aka Paul, and they in turn acted harshly towards him. Paul was forced to defend himself by saying:
9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 9:2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 4. First the Twelve against the Sanhedrin followed by Paul against the Twelve. And now as the Vatican usurps powers and interests it continues to place itself at odds with every other Christian assembly. With the Vatican's bold faced lie that they "do not exercise legitimate ministries" I find a troubling mindset; on the one hand I understand that the Vatican considers itself Christ's throne and voice on earth but surely Christ is not about exclusion. And Christ would never speak against Himself. What were those words again????
Oh, yes:
9:50 But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you."
and again:
11:17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.
and again:
17:21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Now I am not really a conservative and I don't have any real interest in what the Society of St. Pius X does just as I'm not really interested in what the Anglicans or the Baptists or any other Christian group does. What does matter is that every group is part of the Body and Paul taught that every member of the Body is important, whether large or small and no part of the Body can say to another, "you are not of the Body". For me it is a matter of being nurtured and fed according to one's own heart and soul: every person, every journey is unique and one size does not fit all.
For anyone to say that anyone else does not exercise legitimate ministry is really rooted in fear and control. That position denies Christ who said:
10:16 And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.
Fear tactics did not remedy the Great Schism of 1054; they did not remedy the Reformation. And if those tactics didn't work then why should they work now?
Jesus, speaking to Pilate said, "you have authority over me only because it was given to you by God" a sentiment also noted in Paul's letters to Timothy. So if a group of Christians is formed, however it is formed and for whatever reason it is formed, isn't is utlimately formed by God Himself? Doesn't every Christian group know Christ who said, "wherever two or three are gathered in my Name there I am in the midst of them"? Isn't every Christian group alotted a portion of Christ's mission and ministry? If the answer to these is no, then Christ is a liar, a fraud.
Now if a group wants to be Catholic Christian so be it, if they want to be conservative Catholic Christians so be it, if they want to be liberal Catholic Christians so be it. The descriptives aren't important, the noun is. Are descriptive terms so dangerous that we can't use them? Are they truly divisive? I doubt it because for these the core is the same. Descriptive terms neither invalidate nor make something illegitimate, variety is the spice of life.
The Vatican's position is flawed at so many levels. Let people worship how they want to worship, let them pray how they want to pray. Instead of controlling and scaring people into conformity I think we would all be better off looking for common ground and the common ground is this: "to love God with your whole mind, heart and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself; all the commandments rest on these" - JESUS.
AMDG
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| June 21, 2009 |
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Two Notes:
1. Before the Reformation there were some 8 to 10 separate Rites in Western Europe including the Ambrosian, Gallican, Mozarabic, Carthusian, Dominican, Carmelite, etc. There was great freedom and diversity in the church in the way of worship.
2. With the Vatican's unprecedented "my way or the highway" attitutide the work of ecumenism is severely and deeply wounded. |
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