The New York Times has a quite positive portrayal of Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel even though the article has a silly title "Straddling Liberalism and Conservatism."
The church’s views on issues like abortion and homosexuality put Father Groeschel on the opposite side of the political spectrum from many who support his work for social justice.
“I used to be a liberal, if liberal means concern for the other guy,” Father Groeschel said. “Now I consider myself a conservative-liberal-traditional-radical-confused person.”
Faithful Catholics don’t straddle liberalism and conservatism, they transcend them. We have a great love for the poor (both spiritually and materially poor) because we see Jesus in them. We have a great love for protecting the unborn because we see Jesus in them especially today on the feast of the Annunciation when God became Man and not a tissue mass (though sometimes with love for Jesus in the Eucharist we require a tissue at Mass).
I do love Father Groeschel and the first Catholic book I ever bought was his book "In the Presence of Our Lord: The History, Theology, and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion." I have listened to hundreds of hours of his tapes from retreats broadcast on EWTN radio along with all his television shows including Sunday Night Love and I never fail to learn something from this man. He was in a parish in my town for a retreat during the first week of Lent and it was a wonderful experience seeing him and hearing him live. I also love his wry sense of humor and his identification of himself as a "optimistic-pessimist." This way you are never surprised by bad news and are delighted when things go well.
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 Jester Hat Tip: |
Gerald Augustinus | ||
5 comments
I’m actually writing something on a similar topic. My rough draft is appearing longer than what I expected. People have a tendency to ask first if something is “liberal or conservative” instead of first and foremost asking if it is “Catholic.”
Liberal and conservative are both political terms, and vague to boot. I prefer faithful or heretical.
One sometimes has to wonder about the clerical emphasis on seeing Jesus in the poor, to the neglect of seeing Jesus in the legitimate superior; the one does not demand obedience, the other does.
But those eval conservatives eat teh poor people!!!
Fr. Groeschel sounds like he stole 1 of my lines to describe where I stand politically, I am a conservative, liberal, moderate, libertarian, populist. In other words I am an orthodox Catholic as we don’t fit into any 1 box, or as Jeff said, we transcend them.
I too am a big fan of Fr. Groeschel. I watch his show every Sun nite on EWTN. He has a way of saying the most uncomfortable to hear Spiritual Truths in such a gentle manner.