I thought Bishop Lynch’s statement was pretty ironic, but I found this article by Roger Cardinal Mahony to have it’s share. While most of his letter makes some solid points it is hard to read the Cardinal lecturing on obedience.
—Obedience: Today’s society emphasizes personal rights, personal freedom, personal choice — creating a certain self-centeredness that focuses on "what’s good for me, personally." The notion of living in service for others or the common good of society is looked upon as a weakness.
Again, contrast that self-concern with the example of Jesus who came not to be served, but to serve others totally and generously — setting aside personal preferences and desires.
Obedience isn’t the first word that comes to mind when I think of Cardinal Mahoney. Actually the first word that comes to mind is the same word with the prefix "dis" in front of it. If he truly wanted to foster vocations in a diocese in excess of four million Catholics he might try, for example, orthodoxy for a change. Funny how it is that those diocese that do all that reaching out and making the mass more "relevant" to young people also find that they can’t attract priestly and religious vocations. Calling people to a life of sacrifice is pretty hard when you try to make worshipping God more like a get together at Starbucks.
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Actually, it’s the liberal bishops who expect everyone to be obedient to THEIR ways. How many of the faithful and how many good priests have been told they have to be obedient to their bishop when he is doing something wrong
(ie forcing people to stand for communion, silencing priests who are outspoken about supposed “sex-education” programs, no Latin allowed, even if it is a Novus Ordo Mass, whistleblowers on homosexual activity, etc).
In their minds they don’t have to be obedient to anybody, even the Church, but everybody has to be obedient to them.
It’s almost as if he were preparing the way for an exclusively female and gay male priesthood, cuz if that were to ever get the green light, the seminarian shortage would vanish overnight.
Ha, obedience means nothing if you’re only planning on answering to yourself.
Here’s an excellent and thorough article on Obedience by Michael Davies.
http://thecatholicfaith.blogspot.com/2006/04/true-and-false-obedience.html
An old Jesuit friend of mine used to say, “Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds.”
Jeff,
It ever occur to you that your blog is 100 percent criticism and attack? And not an ounce of charity? This is what you converted for, right?
pointing out the obvious with humor isn’t really uncharitable attack. I’ve yet to read a post by Jeff that was of bad taste! His blog is more like 100% humor, so keep it up Jeff!
It ever occur to you that your blog is 100 percent criticism and attack? And not an ounce of charity?
True charity is found in the spiritual works of mercy. One of which is admonish the sinner. Sinners require mercy, bad ideas however must be attacked with extreme prejudice.
Scott
CurtJoisted;
100% eh?
Let’s see – on this page alone…
Sign Language
Shrine of Divine Mercy
Cute Puppies
Sister Marcellina Farina
Parody Funnies
Cardinal O’Malley
1 year anniversary of Benedict XVI
Happy Easter
Celebrating Eastertide
Priest Avoids Injury
John Henry Newman
Good Friday
Whoopsie! It helps to do your homework before you put your foot in your mouth; the use of such glaring and easily debunked hyperbole reduces your credibility and might be one of the reasons people laugh at you.
Pete….
dang it man… there you go bringing logic into it.
Today’s catholics don’t want logic… they want… well faith sharing…
by faith you mean “emotion” right? Because that’s usually what they really mean by “faith”…
John—from the looks of this site & others like Cafeteria Closed, & the large congregations at conservative parishes, TODAY’S Catholics do indeed want logic. It’s the Catholics of 30 years ago who didn’t (& still don’t).
“Actually, it’s the liberal bishops who expect everyone to be obedient to THEIR ways”
Oh so true!! Our local Bishop doesn’t have a problem with questioning if ‘that’s what the Pope really ment’ in regards to gays being accepted into the seminaries, etchttp://www.dioceseofmonterey.org/observer/jan06/The%20Vatican%20instruction%20on%20homosexuality.htm…but heaven forbid anyone kneel after recieving communion in HIS DIOCESE, let alone after the Agnus Dei…but standing during the Eucaristic prayer, which violates cannon law? No problem…as a matter of fact, the priest of that parish is the new Vicor General.
Oops, try this link, if you are interested and have a strong stomach:
http://www.dioceseofmonterey.org/observer/jan06/The%20Vatican%20instruction%20on%20homosexuality.htm
Or try this one, and click on ‘The Vatican instruction on homosexuality’
http://www.dioceseofmonterey.org/observer/jan06/observer.htm
I like what Fr. John Corapi said:
“Unity must subsist in truth”.
The same can be said of obedience. It must subsist in truth, and in alignment to Holy Mother Church.
I think there is some truth that bishops who like to play loose with the rules out of the Vatican, looking for every loophole possible, and complicating the most simple of directives, are the most likely to cry wolf when someone doesn’t follow their “pastoral advice”.
Well, pastoral advice must be aligned to church teaching too, without all of the namby-pamby.
One Bishop, Robert J Carlson, has done just that. He was Bishop of the Sioux Falls Diocese before being reassigned to the Diocese of Saginaw. He had vocations pouring out of Sioux Falls compared to Saginaw. Funnny in just one year he has many more vocations in Saginaw then the previous Bishop ever had! I pray that Pope Benedict the XVI get more Bishop like Bishop Carlson
Any churches that holds to good solid teaching has a way of growing. It isn’t just the Catholic Church that has a problem with liberals. It’s infected every Protestant denomination, too, with the result of having to really hunt to find a church that still teaches what the Bible says.
There is a Prebyterian church in San Francisco that refuses to toe the worldly line or compromise what the Bible teaches. The result? It is full of young people and growing very quickly. They currently run two packed services in a ballroom they rent.
People are hungry for truth and to truly know God, not hear fluffy sermons that use many words and say nothing, and focus more on politics than on God.
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